


Diplomacy Escalates

by LinkCat



Series: Best Friends Forever [3]
Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: Civil War, Distrust, F/F, F/M, Fear of Change, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Miscarriage, Multi, Rape Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:06:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 26
Words: 34,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22789201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinkCat/pseuds/LinkCat
Summary: Poppy and Basil’s village is on the verge of a civil war. Will they be able to negotiate with those who don’t agree with their decisions? Or will the colony be split apart?
Relationships: Biggie/Harper (Trolls), Branch/DJ Suki, Creek/Guy Diamond, Poppy/Smidge (Trolls)
Series: Best Friends Forever [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1587811
Kudos: 6





	1. An Act So Cruel

**Author's Note:**

> This is part 3 of “Best Friends Forever.” I’m sorry for any mistakes I make, and I hope you all enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sky deals with some uncomfortable circumstances, while in prison.

It had been a month since Sky and Rhapsody were sentenced to four months of solitary confinement in prison cells. The village was quiet during that time. Several trolls had become jumpy and paranoid. Over half the colony was afraid that if they made the wrong move, they would be placed in prison, just like Sky and Rhapsody. Even some of the trolls who originally were OK with this idea, realized their mistakes. Especially after hearing that Harmony and Sapphire had had their pods removed without permission. If they were going to imprison innocent trolls for petty crimes, how were they going to live normal lives?

To avoid risking the children, Poppy and Basil had moved their children, Sapphire, Petal, Smidge, Stream, and their children into the bunker. The colony was on edge, and tensions were high. It was clear that there was a divide between several colony members. Everyone was very stressed out.

Poppy visited Sky and Rhapsody as much as possible, but it was hard for her to negotiate with some of the scouts. They had been told that Sky and Rhapsody were not to have visitors. They felt that this included the queen. She managed to convince them to bring in vitamins and medicine, so that the boys could get what they needed for their growing pods. She had pointed out that they were innocent trollings, and that they needed those babies to live. They couldn’t risk losing them.

Indigo was one of the scouts in charge of the prisoners. He had trained recently, and although he was seventeen and months shy of being an adult, his mentors thought he was doing a great job. When his training was over, he was put in charge of his first overnight shift. He paced between the cells and checked on his prisoners. Both appeared to be asleep. He had more in mind then just watching two trolls sleep during the night. He was bored and hormonal. He had been itching to try mating but hadn’t found a mate yet. He looked in on Sky. He was curled up on his side, without a blanket on because he was hot. He was in nothing but a pair of sleeping shorts. Indigo unlocked his prison cell as quietly as possible and then shut it behind himself. He turned to Sky and tiptoed over to the sleeping male. He pulled a handkerchief out of his hair and put it around Sky’s mouth. He tied it quickly and growled when Sky woke up. “You’re going to be quiet and do what I say.”

Sky struggled under Indigo’s weight and glared up at him. He had no idea what this teenager was doing or thinking, but he was already angry that his mouth was covered. He muffled out that Indigo could go fuck himself.

Indigo rolled Sky down onto his belly and removed Sky’s night shorts. He pulled his pants off, and then pushed his length into Sky. He began raping the older male roughly.

Sky swallowed hard and grasped the bed. He could feel his babies flutter inside of him. He was worried that they might be squished. He was told not to lay on his belly like this. The extra weight from Indigo couldn’t be good for them either. He was more worried about them, then the fact he was being raped. He began to pray for them. He hoped that they would be alright.

Indigo went at it for about an hour, before pulling out of Sky. He cleaned himself up and put his pants on. He began cleaning Sky up, so he didn’t smell like mating. “It will do you a great favor if you keep this to yourself. If you squeal, I’ll make sure your family suffers.” He got Sky cleaned up, and then put a blanket over him. He removed the handkerchief and tucked it into his pocket. He left, without saying another word.

Sky rolled onto his side and hugged into his pillow. A few tears ran down his cheeks. He was conflicted. He wanted to share that there was a rapist in the village, but who was going to believe him? It was his word against Indigo’s, and the intelligent teenager just cleaned up the evidence. He wasn’t sure what to do. He was also worried. He could no longer feel his triplets move. He was so worried that they were crushed.

Later that morning, a scout by the name of Rusty, came in with a tray of breakfast. He could see that Sky was curled up in bed. He thought that was unusual. Usually Sky was eager to eat breakfast. He sat the tray down and walked over to Sky. “Wake up Sky. It’s time to eat.” The dark red-orange glitter troll gave him a light shake, before heading out the door.

Sky had startled at the touch but had said nothing. He could smell the food but wasn’t hungry. He was uncomfortable and was pretty sure he was in labor. He let out a whimper during each contraction but didn’t seek help. He was afraid he would be yelled at or accused of trying to escape if he asked for help.

Just before lunch, Sky got up out of bed and reached down as he felt the first of the triplets emerge. He grabbed the little one and gently sat the fetus on his blanket. Tears ran down his cheeks as he repeated the process with the second and third triplet. Once the babies were out, he walked over to the toilet and sat down. He cried into his hands as he faded gray. He had miscarried his triplets and he somehow felt at fault for it.

Rusty came in again when it was lunchtime, just thirty minutes later. He saw that Sky was on the toilet. The smell of blood filled the young scout’s nose. He saw the babies on Sky’s bed and immediately understood what happened. He saw that Sky hadn’t touched his breakfast. He sat the lunch tray down and walked over to Sky. “I’m very sorry.” He thought for a moment, and then went to pick up the blanket. He wrapped the miscarried babies up so they wouldn’t fall out. He then carried the blanket over to Sky and gave it to him. He picked up the grieving father and hurried towards the medical pod with him. Once at the medical pod, he sat Sky down and explained to Fairy what happened. 

“Please go get Queen Poppy.” Fairy looked sad as she checked Sky over. Other than being dehydrated and upset, he appeared to be alright. She encouraged fluids on him, and then unwrapped the blanket. Her heart broke when she saw the tiny babies. She looked up at Sky and frowned. “We’ll make sure they get a proper funeral. Deep condolences on your losses.”

Sky was quiet as Fairy worked on checking him over. He drank a glass of water and watched her as she checked his triplets. He closed his eyes when he watched her move them to a clean blanket. He couldn’t watch them anymore. He was very upset.

Rusty left to get Queen Poppy. He soon returned with her. He had explained what he knew on the way. The twenty-year-old had never seen something like this before. He was sad for Sky and wished this hadn’t happened to him.

Queen Poppy came in and frowned when she saw the triplets. She knew how much that hurt. She pulled Sky into a hug and held him as he cried into her shoulder. “I’ve got you Sky.” She looked sad and angry. This shouldn’t have happened. She had had a bad feeling the prison sentence could be fatal for the unborn pods, and she felt she was right in her thoughts. She had to think of a plan, so that Sky didn’t have to deal with his prison sentence while grieving, and to save Rhapsody from suffering the same fate. They didn’t deserve this and now three innocent lives were dead. She was going to put a stop to this.


	2. Feeling The Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions build after a funeral.

Shortly after arriving at the medical pod, Sky was preparing for a funeral inside the bunker. The grieving father had his hand on his belly. He already felt a huge sense of emptiness. One he wasn’t sure he could ever explain. He hadn’t said a word to anyone. He was afraid to. He had just finished putting on a black suit and tie. He was weak, but well enough to tend the funeral of his triplets. He had Harmony next to him, who was getting the trollings ready. 

Harmony was in a black dress. She was very worried about her mate. She couldn’t imagine what was going on in his mind. She had never witnessed him be this quiet either. Usually he was chatty around the kids.

Leaf was in a tiny black dress and was snuggled up to her daddy. She didn’t like that he was sad. The five-year-old trolling was smart and knew something wasn’t right. She wanted her daddy to feel better.

Six-year-old Rhythm held still as his mama dressed him in a black suit. He watched his father with worried light blue and red dual colored eyes. Tears filled his eyes as he inquired about his father’s current emotional state. “Why is daddy so sad?”

Sky sniffled and held back crying. His eldest looked so worried. It hurt his heart seeing him on the verge of tears.

“Daddy lost the triplets sweetheart. They came out too early and died. It’s OK to cry about it and grieve. You had two little brothers and a little sister who won’t be with us in the living world.” Harmony grabbed a tissue and wiped Rhythm’s face and nose as he began to cry. She held him, her mate, and daughter closely. A few tears escaped her as well. She had been excited about the arrival of the triplets. Her heart was broken too. As grief sank in, the rest of Sky’s family faded gray.

Rhapsody was also in the bunker and was getting dressed. Poppy had assured he get to go to the funeral too, despite his punishment. He had faded gray in grief. He was sad that three of his children died. He was worried about Sky too. Sky appeared to be beyond devastated. He had never seen him this upset.

Once everyone was ready, they headed outside to say goodbye to the triplets. Sky looked down at the tiny casket that they were placed in. It was hard to believe that all three fit in there, but they were born so early that all three of them could fit in his hands.

Harmony began to sing sadly. Sky seemed lost of words, and she wanted to him know she was there for him. She held Sky’s hand and squeezed it tightly. She couldn’t imagine the immense pain he had to be feeling.

Rhapsody was nearby but stayed away from Sky while above ground. He was worried that the colony would jump down his throat if he got near Sky, even though it wasn’t his fault that Sky lost his babies and he had no desire to mate right now. The prison sentence had him so jumpy.

Once the funeral was over, an older scout by the name of Archer, walked over to Sky. “Alright, it’s time to head back…” He was sad for the grieving father, but despite his losses, Sky still had a prison sentence to complete.

Sky tensed up and began sobbing as he was led away from his family. He shook his head and struggled in Archer’s grasp. He didn’t want to go back. He didn’t want to be alone anymore. Especially since Indigo was now a prison guard.

Rhapsody watched with wide eyes. He followed, not wanting to endure the same struggle. He would go back to his prison cell willingly.

“Does he really have to go back right now?! He just watched his sons and daughter get buried!” Harmony was upset as she followed Archer. “He needs rest and support!”

Basil clenched his fists and also followed. “Let him go Archer!” He was angry that Sky seemed extra upset by how Archer was handling him. It was a mix of fear and grief, which had him fuming.

Archer stopped and glared at Basil. “His prison sentence is not over!”

“He just miscarried his babies! Sky and Rhapsody are not going back to the prison cell! He shouldn’t be alone, and I will not allow Rhapsody to endure the same fate with his babies! If they must still be punished, they will be on pod arrest! If you don’t like it, you can leave!” Poppy came over and broke Archer’s grasp on Sky. She held Sky as he sobbed into her chest.

Sky was shaking so hard that his teeth were chattering. He held onto Poppy and sobbed. He had no plans of letting her go. He didn’t want to be raped again, and he certainly didn’t want to be where he had lost his triplets.

“Back off Archer!” Harmony snapped at him. She got between him and her mate. She was furious.

“Get out of here Archer! Leave Sky and Rhapsody the fuck alone and get out of our personal space! We’re all grieving, and he doesn’t need this right now!” Basil shoved Archer away and growled angrily. He was in no mood to deal with anyone who thought Sky should go back to prison. His brother was punished enough in his opinion.

“You all know this isn’t how punishment works!” Archer stormed off to talk to Ukulele about this. The forty-five-year-old green glitter troll was angry that they were not letting him do his job.

Sky sniffled and watched Archer go. He turned to Harmony and clung to her. He had a death grip on her. He wasn’t going to let her go anytime soon.

“I’ve got you sweetheart. Let’s get you to the bunker and tucked into bed. You look exhausted…” Harmony called their children, and then led Sky to the bunker. She planned to hide him in there if she had to. He wasn’t going to go back.

Basil went over to Rhapsody and grabbed his hand. “Let’s get you where you’ll be safe.” He walked his brother in law towards the bunker. He didn’t want him losing his quintuplets. Their hearts were broken enough as it was.

Rhapsody walked with Basil and smiled softly when Sapphire propelled over and walked with him. He hadn’t seen her in a month but was glad he could be with her again. He looked down when Petal took his other hand. She hadn’t really grown since he last saw her, but she seemed to be holding up alright. She had braces on her legs now, which seemed to help her walk better. He thought perhaps that may have been an idea from Fairy. He was glad Petal was getting sufficient care. He wanted his eldest daughter safe.

Poppy followed Basil and his family back to the bunker. She eyed the colony challengingly. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer, and if they fought back, they were going to have to deal with her and Basil, not to mention all of Basil’s family and friends. She was determined to help Sky and Rhapsody through this, whether they liked it or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the song that Harmony sang. I do not own the song. All credit goes to creators!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gcrx2Ab0FM


	3. Rainbow To The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Branch and his family show just how protective they are of Sky.

Once everyone was back in the bunker, Branch made sure that the bunker door was locked and secured. He headed for his twin’s room. He turned the corner and drooped his ears when he saw that Sky was curled up in a ball. He walked over to him and gently gave month and a half old Thunder to him. He knew his son wasn’t going to make the pain go away, but he had a feeling Sky would appreciate baby snuggles.

Sky glanced up at Branch. He looked at Thunder and gasped. The last time he saw the little guy, he was a tiny two-week-old baby. He snuggled him to his chest and held him closely.

Thunder yawned and cuddled into his uncle’s chest. He was sleepy, after a busy morning with his daddy.

Sky’s pet dragon, Midnight, came crashing in. He was way too large to fit on the bed, but he was going to try. His top half was on the bed, as he laid his head on his master’s body. He could sense that Sky was very upset. The midnight blue dragon had black speckles and yellow and red heterochromia eyes.

“Careful Midnight. Sky has a baby.” Harmony reached over and stroked Midnight’s muzzle. She knew he had been restless the last month and he was worried about his master. She was glad they had been reunited. Sky needed him right now.

Sky rolled to face Midnight. He was mindful of his nephew. He snuggled right into the protective dragon and began to cry. He missed his pet very much. He was glad no one had hurt him. He was bonded closely to the young dragon.

Rhythm, Leaf, Rainbow, Dill, Pumpkin, Petal, Itea, Laurel, Brier, and Oleander crawled into the bed and snuggled into Sky as well. They were all deeply concerned about him. They had never seen Sky like this before.

“I’m going to fix this.” Rainbow had a determined look on her face. “My cousins are coming back!” She put her hand on Sky’s belly and concentrated hard.

“Please don’t do that Rainbow. Not yet…” Branch frowned and watched the young spirit trolling. She almost died the last time she brought back babies. He didn’t want her heart to stop again.

“I’m going to help!” Dill put his hand on Sky’s belly and scrunched up his face in concentration.

“Me too!” Pumpkin wriggled his way in there.

“We got this!” Petal declared, before putting her hand on Rainbow. She wanted to help too.

Sky sobbed as the trollings snuggled into him. He wasn’t sure what to do. His body wasn’t going to handle another pregnancy right now. He was far too stressed out.

Rainbow passed out snuggled to Sky. The determined trolling was going to tell the spirits off for hurting her uncle Sky.

Branch watched as Rainbow, Pumpkin, Dill, and Petal passed out. He cringed and checked their pulses. Once again, the only one that didn’t have a heartbeat was Rainbow. He picked her up and put her on the ground. “It happened again! Get Fairy or Mama Goldie!” He got to work on giving Rainbow cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Harmony got up and hurried out the door. She didn’t want them to lose Rainbow. Last time had been way too close.

Sky sat up and watched in horror as Branch worked on reviving their eldest niece. He tucked Thunder into his hair and held the quadruplets close as they freaked out over the fact that their sister was being resuscitated, again. 

Basil came in and sobbed when he realized that Rainbow’s spirit was gone, again. He trembled and took her hand gently. “Damn it Rainbow! You promised me you wouldn’t do this to me again!” He was very upset. He began praying that she would return, like she had last time.

Branch tried for a few minutes, and then checked her pulse again. This time it was back and beating strong. “I got her back.” He put his hand on his chest. He knew she was a powerful trolling, but that scared him a lot. He didn’t want to watch another kid get buried today. “Dill, Petal, and Pumpkin passed out too…”

Fairy came in seconds later and checked Rainbow over. “She seems alright. She’ll be sore from the resuscitation.” She looked up at Basil. “She should be at the medical pod for observation.”

Harmony wasn’t far behind Fairy. She sat down by Sky and rubbed his back soothingly. She was glad that Rainbow was OK.

Sky looked relieved. He held his nephews, son, and daughter closely. He was trembling with anxiety. He felt at fault for their sudden collapses.

“She’s staying here. We’ll watch her here. I don’t trust some of my colony members right now.” Basil picked up his daughter and carried her to her bed. He planned on keeping her, Dill, Pumpkin, and Petal together while they recovered. It was clear that they were doing what Rainbow and Pumpkin had done nearly a year earlier. He was glad Rainbow came back sooner this time. He didn’t want to lose her.

Branch followed Basil, to make sure Rainbow was alright. He planned on watch her for the foreseeable future. She had scared them all, again.

“I’ll stay here and help then. She needs to be watched.” Fairy had a determined look on her face. “I’ll bring Pearl here. I been uncomfortable with some of colony members myself.” She hoped they wouldn’t turn her down. Her life had become better since joining the colony.

“I don’t see why not.” Harmony whispered. She reached over and stroked each passed out trollings’ cheeks. She was worried about the little ones. She wondered what they did this time. Rainbow and Pumpkin especially seemed like powerful children. It was going to be interesting to see what was going to happen very soon.

Once Dill, Rainbow, Petal, and Pumpkin were settled on Rainbow’s bed, the families worked together on settling Fairy and Pearl into the bunker. She was a trusted friend, and they wanted her safe too. They all hoped that the tension would ease soon. They were all very nervous and wanted their families safe.


	4. A Bad Shade Of Indigo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Indigo pulls a few bold moves.

Over the course of the next two days, the colony was busy. Biggie welcomed a daughter with Harper. They ended up naming her Paprika. She looked a lot like her mama, but her color patches were in different spots. Guy Diamond also welcomed a set of twin girls with Creek. They were tiny versions of their daddy Guy Diamond. They were named Brook and Moonlight. All three girls were a little premature, so Mama Goldie recommended they spend the first night of life in the medical pod, just to make sure that their parents recovered well, and the babies were alright. Especially since Harper had ended up having her daughter at home unexpectedly in the bathtub. She wanted to make sure Paprika endured the scare alright.

So that Biggie wasn’t alone, Guy Diamond insisted that he stay the night with the nervous father. He also didn’t feel comfortable with anyone being alone right now. Creek had complained that tensions were so high right now that he was very uncomfortable. He even suspected that it caused his labor to start. Biggie didn’t turn down Guy Diamond and his kids, coming to spend the night.

Once River, Agate, and Quartz were settled in bed with Saffron, Guy Diamond settled down on the couch, and Biggie went to bed.

Indigo had noticed that the two males were in the same home, without their mates. A demonic grin spread on his face as he headed quietly towards Biggie’s home. He slipped inside and proceeded to grab Guy Diamond. He covered his mouth and led him towards Biggie’s bedroom. He told them to keep their mouths shut, or he would kill all of the children that slept in the room next door. He then raped them both.

Biggie was petrified beyond words and planned not to say a thing. He wanted his son and his little friends safe.

Guy Diamond was seething, but kept his mouth shut too. He wouldn’t risk his babies. It hadn’t been easy for either of them lately. They didn’t need to lose their kids too.

Once Indigo was done, he cleaned up the evidence, like he had with Sky. He then headed out the door. He had a satisfied look on his face.

Biggie and Guy Diamond snuggled up to each other. They didn’t want to let each other go. That had been terrifying. They were glad Indigo didn’t go into Saffron’s bedroom.

Rusty saw Indigo leave Biggie’s home. He walked towards him and frowned. “What were you doing in Biggie’s home at this time of the night?” He had just started his nightly patrol and didn’t like that Indigo was sneaking around. Unlike his superiors and father, he didn’t trust Indigo. He didn’t seem like that nice of a troll.

“That’s none of your business.” Indigo hissed. He headed for his home. He didn’t like Rusty. Especially since he had taken Sky to the medical pod when he miscarried. He was livid that he didn’t have a sex toy anymore.

“It is too my business! I just started the early morning patrol!” Rusty followed Indigo. He was very suspicious of Indigo.

Indigo ignored him but let him follow him. He suddenly had a plan, that he thought would be fool proof. Once Rusty was in his home, he closed his door behind Rusty, and then grabbed Rusty. “Fool! Now you’re going to do what I say, or I’ll kill you, and everyone you love, including Fairy and little Pearl!”

Rusty’s eyes went wide. He had a huge crush on Fairy, and there was no hiding that they were bonding. He looked Indigo up and down. “What the fuck? Why are you threatening my future and colony?!” Instead of giving in to Indigo’s demand, he began throwing punches.

Indigo growled and began fighting back. He soon gained advantage of Rusty and began raping him. “I’m going to kill Fairy and Pearl, and it will be all your fault. Foolish glitter troll!” He had blood running from his nose, but he didn’t care. Blood covered the area around them. 

Rusty fought back the best he could. He yelped when Indigo broke his right arm. He held his arm and glared up at him. “Asshole! I knew you were insane!”

Indigo stuffed tissue up his nose and continued mating with him. Once he was satisfied, he rubbed Rusty’s member until it swelled up. He pushed his cavity so that Rusty was inside of him. He began riding him. “I’m going to tell them you beat me and raped me. You’re in deep shit!”

Rusty tried to shove Indigo off. He was livid and didn’t think he would get away with this crime. “Get off me! I should kill you!”

Their struggle continued for an hour, until Indigo got tired. He cleaned Rusty’s hole up, so they didn’t think he raped him. He then opened his door and hollered for help.

Archer was out looking for Rusty, when he heard Indigo call for help. He came in on the bloody scene and widened his eyes. “What happened here?!” He didn’t like that both males appeared to be badly injured.

Rusty groaned in pain. He had broken ribs along with his broken arm. He also had a bite on his penis. He was in a lot of pain. He tried to talk but couldn’t get anything out. Indigo had given him a nasty blow to his throat, and he was having trouble talking and breathing.

“He raped me! I had to defend myself, but I knew I wasn’t supposed to kill him. When he let me go, I called for help.” Indigo had his hand on his nose. It was broken and already swelling up.

Archer growled angrily and grabbed Rusty. He helped him to his feet. Rusty was his son, and this made him angry. “Shame on you! You’re not my son!” He led Rusty towards the prison cell. “I’m not going to bother getting you a medical troll. Rape can be punishable by death, but the royal couple have to make that decision.” He got Rusty to the prison cell and had him go in. He locked the door behind him and then headed for the bunker to get King Basil and Queen Poppy. He had a feeling Rusty would be put to death, which broke his heart. He thought Rusty was a good kid, and he had a bright future ahead of him. It was hard to believe that his son would do a terrible thing like this.

Rusty curled up on the prison bed and loathed over the fact that not only was he being punished for a crime he didn’t commit, but Indigo was getting away with hurting him. He quietly prayed that their god would spare Fairy and Pearl. He didn’t want anything to happen to them. He hoped Indigo wouldn’t hurt anyone else either.

Indigo headed for the medical pod for treatment. He acted like he was badly injured, but internally, he was smiling. He was getting away with a lot, and that made him feel good. He felt no remorse for what he had done. To him, they were not his problem. They killed his older brother, Bruno, after all. He thought this was only fair.


	5. Falsely Accused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Indigo’s accusations spark tension among colony members.

In the bunker, Rainbow was the last of the unconscious trollings to wake up. She stretched out stiffly and let out a groan. She was sore from the chest compressions, which had caused bruised ribs. She looked around and teared up. “Daddy?!” She called Basil. She wanted her daddy. She wanted comfort and to tell him several important things.

Basil had left to get a snack, and to feed the quadruplets, when he heard Rainbow. He got up and carried Crash and Splash with him. He had them each latched on and didn’t want to make them detach. They had just started to feed. He sat by the bed and smiled at his daughter. “You’re awake. Are you alright my sweet girl?”

Rainbow snuggled into her daddy and watched her conjoin twin brothers nurse. “I’m OK daddy, but the spirits are angry. They said that uncle Sky’s babies can’t come back right now. They said they are in danger because the meanie that caused their deaths is still alive.” She rubbed her eyes and sniffled. “Indigo has done bad things daddy. He has hurt uncle Sky, uncle Biggie, and uncle Guy Diamond. He’s hurting buddy Rusty too…” She started to cry. She was upset that she couldn’t save her cousins, like she had saved her sisters. She also didn’t like that so many of the ones she loved were getting hurt by Indigo. “Help Rusty daddy!”

Basil had a look of shock on his face. He got up and headed for the door. He could hear that someone was knocking. He had a feeling something was up and was pretty sure he was going to need to beat the glitter out of Indigo. He was tense and looked angry. He detached his twins from their hold and handed them off to Rhapsody as he approached the door. “Watch them.” He opened the door and frowned when he realized it was Archer. “What can I do for you Archer? I was about to go check on Rusty. Rainbow says he’s in trouble.”

“He’s in trouble alright. Indigo just accused him of raping him. I want you and Queen Poppy to come to the prison cell and decide his punishment. He appeared to have broken Indigo’s nose.” Archer was seething. He couldn’t believe his son would do that. “I’ll meet you there. I’m going to get Ukulele.” He left to get the colony elder.

Basil looked confused, but gave a firm nod, before heading to his temporary room. He gently shook Poppy awake. “There’s something fishy going on. I want you to get ready and bring a knife with you. There could be trouble.” He put on a long-sleeved shirt and removed his night shorts. He then put on his pants. He tucked his knife casing into his hair, and then headed for the door.

Poppy got up and quickly dressed in a warm dress. She grabbed her own knife casing and followed Basil out the door. She wondered what was going on so early in the morning.

Basil headed for the prison cell. He immediately picked up on Rusty’s distressing aura. He frowned and grabbed the keys from beside the door. He unlocked the door and walked over to the injured male. He could sense that he was in a lot of pain, fearful, angry, and disgusted. He didn’t think he raped Indigo. It appeared Indigo raped him and hurt him, badly. “I’ve got you Rusty. Let’s get your injuries checked over.” He gently picked up Rusty and headed for the bunker with him.

Rusty took a shaky breath when Basil picked him up. He gurgled inaudible words. His arm and ribs hurt him a lot and he was unable to talk. He looked up at Basil and wondered why he was treating him different then his own father. He wasn’t going to resist though. He was glad someone was on his side.

“He looks awful…” Poppy followed Basil towards the bunker. She frowned, seeing Archer hurry their way. “Do you know what happened?!”

“Yeah, he raped Indigo, and got the shit beaten out of him.” Archer followed Basil. “Where are you taking him? He doesn’t deserve treatment!” He knew that Fairy was in the bunker. He thought Rusty was guilty and didn’t want him treated for his injuries. He wasn’t going to tolerate rape.

“He’s scared out of his mind. There is no way he raped Indigo. I’ve been around a lot of bad trolls. I think he was framed. He’s getting treatment.” Basil wasn’t sure explaining that his daughter knew Indigo was guilty would work right now. Archer’s aura was screaming anger. Once at the bunker, he went inside and headed for Branch’s treatment room.

Poppy wasn’t far behind Basil. She blocked the door and crossed her arms. “I want a full explanation before anyone is to enter this bunker.”

“I was called into Indigo’s home just a few minutes ago! He broke Indigo’s nose and raped him. I could see and smell semen on Indigo! Let me in, so I can kill him personally. He had no right to act like that! I taught him better!” Archer snapped. He was livid and reaching a boiling point. “You’re stretching rules again, and this time, it’s going to get the colony into a lot of trouble!”

Ukulele caught up and frowned. “Poppy? Have you assured the death of the rapist? You surely don’t want anyone else in the village hurt, after what some of us have endured. Think about your children. I would hate to see anything happen to them.”

“Until I get information for Indigo and Rusty, no one is dying. I want both sides of the story, and it appears right now Rusty is having trouble talking. You’re going to have to be patient. You’re the one that pushes fair trials. Now you’re going to have to wait and see who the guilty party is.” Poppy backed into the bunker and shut the door. She made sure it was locked and secured. She didn’t want anyone coming in. Something was definitely fishy. She had been around Rusty since he was tiny. She didn’t think he had it in him to do such a thing. She hoped that Archer and Ukulele gave them time. She knew Ukulele would likely not want to wait. Not after what happened with Olive. Time was not on Rusty’s side. She headed for the treatment room, to make sure Rusty got the care he needed.

“This isn’t over Queen Poppy! If you don’t punish him, I will! You need to decide who’s side you’re on!” Archer snapped as Poppy closed the door. He turned to Ukulele and frowned. “We’ve got to prepare for resistance. They’re going to protect him, and I know what I saw.”

“We need to prepare for war, Archer. Queen Poppy has allowed too many things to slide. It’s time to teach these rule breakers a lesson. I’ve seen a lot of things the last seventy years, but I have never seen the royal family allow so much treachery. It’s time to put an end to it. Let’s gather those who agree with our standings, and I’ll meet you by the waterfall. We must prepare for the rebuttal that is about to come.” Ukulele headed for her home. The one-armed troll didn’t want another rapist to get away with his crime. They were going to get into that bunker and get to Rusty, whether King Basil and Queen Poppy liked it or not. She wanted the colony safe and was going to do whatever it took to make it so.


	6. A Stupid Move

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Indigo tries his luck again and doesn’t win this time.

Inside the bunker, Rusty was immediately intubated, because he was having trouble breathing on his own. Branch helped Fairy stabilize the critically injured glitter troll. He had a bad feeling Fairy was going to struggle to help him on her own. Everyone knew how close she was to him, and they were due to get married in about a week. It appeared their wedding would be postponed, if he even survived his injuries.

Fairy began to sing to Rusty as she worked on him. She wanted him to know she loved him with all her heart and soul. She had lost her last husband, Chili, when Pearl was one year old, after saving Pearl from a wingdingle. She didn’t want to lose another troll she loved. Seeing Rusty in this much pain was more then she could bare. Tears ran down her cheeks as she gave him puffs of air through his intubation site. “Please fight for us. I love you so much.” She wasn’t sure she could survive another loss. She needed him to live. Pearl needed him too. She knew he wouldn’t have raped Indigo. She was very worried that Archer would come into the bunker and finish Rusty off. She was trembling with fear.

Rusty had tears in his eyes as he watched his fiancé. He knew she was scared, but he was going to fight for her and their daughter. He saw Pearl as his daughter, even though he didn’t create her. He wished he could tell Fairy that he would fight until his last breath. He wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

As soon as he was able to, Branch gave Rusty a sedative. His throat was swelling up and had made intubating nearly impossible. He needed to see what kind of injury Rusty had behind his skin. His severely broken arm needed to be surgically fixed as well and his penis needed cleaning and stitches. Once Rusty was asleep, Branch and Fairy worked together to fix what Indigo had broken.

While Branch and Fairy worked on saving Rusty’s life, Basil, Poppy, Stream, Smidge, DJ Suki, and Sapphire got ready go outside and talk to Indigo and straighten things out. They had left Rose, Juniper, and Harmony to watch and care for Sky. Basil had told them what Rainbow said, and they were all livid. They planned to talk to Guy Diamond and Biggie and help move their families into the bunker for safety reasons. They also planned to get Creek and Harper into the bunker too, where they would be safe with their newborn babies. They also thought of trying to coax Mama Goldie into go into the bunker, so she could be with her sons, Guy Diamond and Rusty. They were not sure if Archer had even told his wife, Goldie, about what happened to Rusty, or if she was even going to be on Rusty’s side. It was clear in their eyes that Rusty was an innocent victim.

Once outside, Basil, Sapphire and DJ Suki began searching for Ukulele and Archer. They wanted to talk to them about the outburst. DJ Suki was going, in hopes that she could keep Basil and Sapphire cool. She could see that they were flushed with anger. They were not aware that Archer had gathered several trolls and walked to the waterfall. They didn’t know Ukulele was at former King Peppy’s home, either. The elder was trying, unsuccessfully, to talk the former king into being on their side.

Poppy headed for the medical pod to talk to Mama Goldie and Indigo. She wanted to get Indigo’s side of the story and see if she could get some information from Goldie. She also wanted to send Harper and Creek to the bunker, where they would be safer. Once at the medical pod, she began talking to Mama Goldie. She found out that Indigo had already gone home, since his injuries were not severe and were easily fixed. She began taking down information from Mama Goldie, and told her that her son, Rusty, was in the medical pod. She planned to walk Harper and Creek to the bunker, after she got the information she needed.

Stream and Smidge went to get Biggie, Guy Diamond, and their children. When they got inside, they were horrified to find that both males were clung to each other in Biggie’s room. They worked together to coax Biggie and Guy Diamond out of the bed. They helped them pack up and woke the children. Once they were all set, Smidge led them towards the bunker.

Stream headed for Creek and Guy Diamond’s home to get some clothes for Creek. He didn’t want his twin brother to fuss over getting clothes, when he had just had twins the day before.

Indigo had showered and changed his clothes. He planned to take a nap, after a busy morning. As he passed a window in his home, he spotted Stream. Despite being tired and sore, Indigo couldn’t resist the urge to go after Stream. He thought he would be an easy target, and surely, he would stay quiet because of his babies and tiny wife. He watched as Stream entered Creek and Guy Diamond’s home. He followed him in and slowly closed the door. He came up behind the one-armed troll and covered his mouth. “Don’t you scream or make a sound, or I’ll kill your children and wife.” He pinned Stream down and began removing Stream’s pants. He removed his own pants and began raping him.

Stream was horrified by the sudden attack. At first, he didn’t make a sound. He wasn’t sure what Indigo wanted. He growled when Indigo began removing his pants. “Don’t you dare do it!” He sneered and began to struggle when Indigo removed his own pants. He tried shoving him off but was quickly overpowered by the strong teenager. He took a deep breath and screamed as loudly as he could. He wasn’t going to let Indigo get away with this.

“You son of a bitch!” Indigo growled. He covered Stream’s mouth with a handkerchief and continued what he was doing. He didn’t think anyone heard Stream. It was still early morning, and most trolls didn’t get up this early.

Ukulele was on her way to the waterfall, when she heard her grandson’s scream. She widened her eyes and hurried for the flower pod that the scream came from. She came in to see Indigo on top of Stream. She charged over to Indigo and tried to pull him off of Stream. “What the hell are you doing?!” She immediately suspected that he lied about Rusty attacking him. They had almost killed the wrong troll.

Stream muffled for his grandma to run. He didn’t want her to get hurt, again.

Indigo pulled out of Stream and sneered. He grabbed Ukulele’s arm and swung her into a wall. He smirked and glared down at the elderly troll after she fell. “Getting my fucking revenge, you dense moron! My brother didn’t deserve the slow death that was handed to him! You all can go to hell!”

Ukulele fell when Indigo slammed her into the wall. She let out a holler from pain. She had broken her hip when he did that. She winced when he got closer. “Your brother raped Branch. He got justice.” Her voice was full of pain and hatred. She was livid that she had thought Indigo was innocent.

Stream took this chance and got up. He pulled a knife out of his hair and came up behind Indigo. He began stabbing him repeatedly. He didn’t stop until Indigo collapsed into a pool of blood. He wished a slower death for the monster, but he could see that Ukulele was injured. He wanted to get her where she could get treatment, before it got worse.

Indigo bled out from his injuries. He soon succumb to the knife wounds.

Ukulele tried to stand up but was unable to get her legs to work properly. She cried out in pain, before settling her back against the wall. “I broke my legs, or my hip. I can’t get up.” She looked down and frowned. “I’m so sorry Stream.” She was sad that one of her grandchildren had experienced a pain that she would never wish on anyone.

Stream worked on getting the handkerchief off, and then put on his pants. “It’s going to be alright Grandma Lele. We’ll get through this as a family.” He used his hair and single arm to pick her up. He carried her towards the medical pod, so that she could be checked over. Once at the medical pod, he sat her down and stepped back. “Indigo just raped me and attacked grandma. I killed him.” Stream sat down in a chair and put his face into his hand. He began to cry. He was shaken by the experience.

Poppy’s eyes went wide. “Stay here Stream and get checked over. I’m going to go get Basil.” She left quickly, to search for her husband. She hoped he hadn’t gone on a rampage, yet.

Thankfully, Poppy found Basil, right before he found Archer. She had prevented the rampage. She explained to Basil what happened. It was clear who the real guilty party was.

Archer wasn’t far from them and came up as Poppy overlaid what happened. He frowned and looked at them with a suspicious look. “So, Indigo is the rapist? It wasn’t Rusty?” He frowned when Poppy nodded. He looked away and cringed. He had accused his son wrongfully. He hoped that Rusty would forgive him for jumping to conclusions. He was trying to protect the colony.

After a long talk, the group that was on Archer and Ukulele’s side walked with Basil and Poppy back to the colony. A war had been prevented, but the damage had been done. It was going to take a while for things to settle again. Poppy silently prayed that they would all come to an agreement, because her patience was wearing thin. Stream’s rape should have never happened and Rusty should have never been threatened. She was determined to put an end to all this tension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the song that Fairy sang. I do not own the song. All credit goes to the creators!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R9fSfnxSN0


	7. A Father Disowned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archer must face the wrath of an angry family.

After a few hours of talking, and a lot of begging, Archer was allowed into the bunker to see Rusty. Basil hovered him, to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. Archer had threatened Rusty’s life, and had treated Sky poorly, after he had miscarried. They were still unable to get Sky to talk, which had them all worried. Basil wasn’t sure how badly Archer treated Sky to make him so fearful of him.

Archer was sitting by Rusty’s bedside. He watched his son breathe, through the intubation tubing. He couldn’t believe what he had done and hoped that his son would forgive him. He was very worried about him, since he had fractured ribs, a fractured arm, and a fractured larynx. The fractured larynx could be life threatening for Rusty. He was also a little tense, because Mama Goldie had yelled at him for being a jerk to their son. He avoided eye contact with his wife. She was scary when she was angry.

Mama Goldie, Guy Diamond, Fairy, and Rusty’s twin brother, Dusty, were on the opposite side of the bed, waiting for Rusty to wake up. They didn’t want to be near Archer.

Fairy had spent some of that time talking to Mama Goldie. She had been keeping a secret from them all, including Rusty, and didn’t want them to be angry if they found out indirectly. She had started to mate with Rusty two months earlier. She had ended up getting pregnant right away. She was expecting her second child in four months. She was petrified that she would lose Rusty. She had a hold of Guy Diamond’s hand and was holding it. She knew he had been raped too and felt awful for their family. She planned to be supportive for all the victims. She knew it was going to take a long time for these brothers to cope with what happened.

Mama Goldie was alright with the news of pregnancy, and had suggested that Fairy marry Rusty, as soon as he was conscious and coherent, so that if he did die, the baby would know that his or her parents were married when its daddy died.

Guy Diamond was stroking Fairy’s hand. Despite his own terrible experience that morning, he felt it necessary to comfort his younger brother’s fiancé. He hoped that Rusty recovered. He was very protective of his little brothers.

Dusty was Rusty’s fraternal twin brother and had joined his family as soon as he found out what had happened. He looked just like Mama Goldie, with golden glitter from the top of his hair, down to his toes. He had his hand on Rusty’s uninjured hand. He was very worried about his twin.

Rusty finally fluttered his eyes open. He cringed in pain and looked around. He tried to talk but couldn’t due to his injury. He was also still intubated, due to swelling. He laid his eyes on his father and fused his brows. Archer was the last troll he wanted to see next to him when he woke up. He was furious with his father, for believing that he was a cold-blooded rapist.

Archer saw that glare. He moved closer and swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry son. I shouldn’t have believed Indigo’s lies. I know the truth now.”

Despite being groggy, Rusty lifted his good hand and gave his father the middle finger. He then motioned for Archer to go away. He didn’t want him in the room with his family. He was in a lot of pain and wanted nothing more then snuggles with his Fairy.

Guy Diamond reached over and put his hand on Rusty’s shoulder. “You’re a tough troll, little brother. Keep fighting…” He was glad he was awake.

“You’re awake…” Fairy got onto the bed and sat beside him. “I’m so glad you woke up. I’m so worried about you.” She sniffled and teared up. “I’m scared Rusty. I’m pregnant. Our baby needs you to get better.” She smiled when Rusty rested his hand on her belly. She rested her hand on his hand and smiled. “I love you…”

Mama Goldie made sure Fairy was settled, and then turned to Archer. “It’s time for you to go, Archer. He doesn’t want you in here.”

“Time to go.” Basil grabbed Archer’s arm and led him out of the treatment room. He led him outside and shoved him out the door with a firm whack from his hair on Archer’s buttock. He slammed the door and locked it. He was glad Rusty had summoned him to leave.

Archer wasn’t happy that he was forced outside of the bunker. Once outside, he rubbed his bottom and headed for his home to sulk. He wanted to be with his son and family. They had all been through a lot that morning.

“So, you’re having a baby Fairy?” Dusty watched Fairy snuggle with Rusty. He was already an uncle, to three nieces and two nephews, through Guy Diamond and Creek, but it was still very exciting news.

“Yeah…” Fairy nodded slowly and looked into Rusty’s golden colored eyes. She was so worried about her fiancé.

“I’m going to gather friends and family. You three rest, while I gather them.” Mama Goldie left her sons and daughter in law to go get whoever was willing to come. She had already talked to Queen Poppy about marrying the couple, and Poppy had approved of the marriage happening sooner.

It took a couple of hours to gather everyone, and to help Fairy into a pretty wedding dress. Rusty wasn’t well enough to get out of bed, but he was a little more awake now. The bed was put at an angle, so that Rusty could be in a sitting position. He was tucked in a blanket, and obviously bruised up, including two black eyes, but the crack of a smile was on the corners of his lips. His mom had tucked a bow over his surgical site on his neck. He had Fairy’s hand. He was glad that Queen Poppy was going to let them marry early. He didn’t want there to be any doubt that he loved his Fairy and wanted a family with her.

Queen Poppy stood in front of the bed. She planned to make this wedding short, and then give them a proper one when Rusty recovered. She looked at Rusty and cleared her throat. “Rusty Stone, do you take Fairy Pixie-Dust, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, until death departs you?”

Rusty let Fairy’s hand go and gave Poppy a thumbs up. He then took Fairy’s hand again. He glanced at his bride. He had tears in his eyes. The morning had started out crappy, but this was taking a lot of that mental pain away.

Fairy held Rusty’s hand and smiled at him. She reached over and dried his face of tears.

Queen Poppy smiled and looked at Fairy. “Fairy Pixie-Dust, do you take Rusty Stone, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, until death departs you?”

Fairy looked up at Queen Poppy and nodded. “I do, no matter what.” She smiled at her groom. She knew he was hurting, but he was being so brave. She was so proud of him.

“Then by the power, invested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss.” Queen Poppy smiled at them. She was more then happy to help them, after the horrible morning that they had endured.

Rusty raised a brow. He had a tube down his throat. He wasn’t sure kissing would work right now.

Fairy smiled and turned to Rusty. She gave him a warm kiss on the cheek. “I owe you a long, wet kiss, when you can breathe without the tubing.” She rubbed his cheek soothingly. She was glad they were officially married.

Mama Goldie watched on with a soft smile on her face. She was glad that her boy was married and appeared to be on his way to recovery. She knew it would be months before he was back to normal after what happened, if he ever fully recovered at all. She hoped that nothing he had experience would leave permanent physical damage. She also hoped that Archer had time to think about what he had done, because everyone was furious at him right now. He had made unwise decisions that morning, that almost ended Rusty’s life, and possibly the lives of other innocent trolls. She was infuriated with him, and hoped that his behavior improved, for their sons.


	8. A Family Full Of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sky gets much needed reassurance.

While Rusty and Fairy’s friends and family quietly celebrated their marriage, Sky was curled up on the couch. He would have loved to go, and was invited, but he felt at fault for Rusty’s current critical condition. The normally cheerful and sociable bookworm of the twins wasn’t acting himself, more so then ever. He wished now he had told his family about what Indigo did to him the night he had been raped and induced into labor. Maybe if he had told on Indigo; Biggie, Guy Diamond, Rusty, and Stream wouldn’t be hurting too. He closed his eyes and silently prayed that they would one day forgive him for staying silent. He had a bad feeling they would all hate him, once they found out the truth.

Branch had never seen Sky like this before. It was usually Sky picking him up when he was feeling down. He watched his younger twin from the hallway, near the treatment room. He was invited to the wedding too but was more worried about his twin brother then the wedding that was happening inside of his bunker. He knew something was bothering Sky. He had a feeling it had something to do with Indigo. Basil had told him that Rainbow said that Indigo hurt Sky and was somehow responsible for the death of his triplets. He had so many questions but didn’t want to hurt Sky but prying questions on him. He thought for several minutes, before walking over to his twin and sitting beside him. He took his hand and smiled at him when he looked at him. “Do you remember when we were little, and mom was pregnant with Rose and Sapphire? Basil was only five and had snuck out of the house without telling us. We both followed him, thinking he would be in so much trouble because of his blindness. How protective we were…” He smiled softly. “We saved him that day from falling to his death. We were there for each other then, and we’ll be with each other now.” He began to hum a lullaby that their mother used to sing to them when they were little. He hoped that the old memories would help Sky get through this. He began recalling other adventures they went on together. They never went off to do anything without the other.

Sky sniffled and looked at his twin. He nodded slowly. He remembered all those things, and much more. Basil was often in all sorts of trouble, but they were always there to save him for getting hurt. They were there for each other and their other younger siblings too. They were almost always together and were closely bonded. So much so, that they still shared the same living space. He couldn’t imagine living without Branch. He needed him just as much as he needed him.

“We promised all of our siblings that we would take good care of them. We’re still great big brothers.” Branch reached over and gave Sky a big hug. “You’re a great troll. I know you have a lot on your mind, but I want you to know that I love you and I’m here for you. You helped me get through Thunder’s pregnancy, and I will help you pull through this nightmare that you have gone through. When you’re ready to talk, you’re welcome to come to me.”

Sky gave him a tight hug. He wasn’t ready to talk yet, but his brother’s reassurance made him feel a little better. He glanced up when Basil walked over and hugged them too. Basil was quickly followed by Sapphire and Rose.

Branch held hands with Sapphire and snuggled into Sky. He began to sing to Sky, in hopes of reassuring him that the strong emotional and physical pain didn’t last forever. It did get better and he would eventually cope with what happened.

Sapphire sang with Branch and ran her hand through Sky’s dark gray hair. She was very worried about him and knew how much it hurt to have no control of a situation. It was never easy.

Basil knelt down to Sky’s level and pressed his forehead against Sky’s forehead. “I know you’re hurting Sky. If there is anything, I can do for you, big brother, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. We all love you so much.”

“Very much so. You’re precious Sky.” Rose reached down and kissed Sky’s cheek. She was the youngest of the living Thorn children but was just as protective as the rest of them. She smiled when the children came out of the treatment room and came looking for them. They had been asked to leave, so that Rusty could get some rest. She gave Leaf and Rhythm room to crawl onto the couch and cuddle with their daddy. Sky needed them now, more than ever.

Rhythm crawled onto the couch and put his ear against Sky’s chest. He listened to his heartbeat. He was still very worried about his daddy. He had gone silent too, and didn’t plan to talk again, until his daddy talked too.

Leaf sat by Sky’s head and snuggled right up to him. She was her daddy’s little mini me, and was a lot like him. She didn’t like that her daddy was so sad. “I’ll read a book to you daddy. What do you want to read?”

Sky sniffled and cried softly. His babies and siblings were so sweet, and he felt that he didn’t really deserve this. He snuggled with Leaf and held her. He wasn’t ready to talk yet, but he had his precious boy and girl snuggled up to him and was surrounded by his worried siblings. There wasn’t much else in the world he would ask for at that moment. He needed them all right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the song Branch and Sapphire sang. I do not own the song. All credit goes to the creators!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIbuXTgextU


	9. Rusty Is Feisty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rusty proves he has the will to live and fight.

For the next week, the trolls laid it low and took it slowly. Rusty ended up having another minor surgery, the day after his wedding, to insert a feeding tube, so that his throat had time to recover. He was getting thin from not having enough calories, but he was managing with what they could give him. They didn’t want to feed him too much, and risk him vomiting it out. It would not go well with his tubulation.

As morning rose, it was time to remove Rusty’s tubing, and see if he could breathe on his own. He looked nervous as Fairy gently removed the tape that held his tubing in place. He grasped the bed as she began pulling it out. Tears were in his eyes from the discomfort of the removal. Once it was out, he coughed a few times and took a deep breath. His ribs hurt, from the fractured ribs, and his throat felt awful, but he was able to breathe. He looked at Fairy as he took a few breaths. He was so glad he could breathe on his own. It meant he had a better chance at surviving. “Thank you, my beautiful…” His voice was raspy and labored, but it was there. He was lucky he was able to talk, considering his fractured larynx.

“You’re welcome, handsome.” Fairy cleaned up his face and neck. She then gave him a big wet kiss. She had been wanting to give him one all week.

Rusty held her with his uninjured arm and returned the kiss. He had been wanting to do that too.

Fairy let the lip lock go and let out a soft giggle. She rubbed his cheek gently and smiled softly. “I don’t want you to swallow anything for the next couple of days, and then we’ll try thick liquids and soft food at first. Things that won’t make you chock. Your throat is going to need time to heal.”

Rusty nodded slowly and held her to him. He knew it had to be so hard to take care of him the last week. Especially with the fact she was pregnant. He was grateful for her. She was a definite keeper. He put his hand on her belly and smiled up at her. “At least I can talk to the baby now.” He planned to return the treatment when he was able to. She deserved spoilings.

“I’m sure he or she appreciates hearing daddy.” Fairy smiled softly. She looked over at Pearl, who was curled up in a visitor’s couch beside Rusty’s bed, napping. “Too bad Pearl is sleeping through it.”

“She’ll hear me soon enough.” Rusty smiled softly. “I love you…” He gave her a light kiss. He was so glad he could smoother her in kisses again.

“I love you too, Rusty.” Fairy smiled at him and played with his rusty red hair. She was so glad he was fighting.

Outside the bunker, Mama Goldie knocked on the door. She was still in charge of the medical pod but made frequent visits to the bunker to check on her sons. She had just finished her nightly shift. She had Archer with her this time. She had warned him that Rusty might not want him over, but he had insisted.

Branch opened the door and frowned when he saw Archer. “Rusty isn’t going to want you over, Archer.”

“I want to check on my sons.” Archer walked past Branch and went straight for the treatment room. He turned the corner and sighed in relief when he saw that Rusty was free from tubing. He walked over to his son and gave him a hug. “Thank goodness you’re alright.”

Rusty sneered when his father came into the room. He glared at him when he gave him a hug. He started to shove him off. “Who the hell are you? Last I checked, I didn’t have a father anymore.” His voice was dry and irritated. It sounded extra angry due to the hoarseness.

Mama Goldie followed Archer inside and frowned when Rusty became hostile. She didn’t blame him but wasn’t sure what to do. She knew Archer was sorry, but she was also still angry with him too. She had made him sleep on the couch all week and had the bed to herself.

Archer let go and looked at his son. “I didn’t know son. I was angry. Please forgive me?”

Rusty unhooked his fluids and set them in his hair. He then got up and started to shove Archer towards the door with his good arm. “Get out! You disowned me, when I needed you the most. I don’t have a father anymore. Scram!” He grabbed a broom and gave his father a firm whack on the buttocks. “Get!”

“Be careful Rusty.” Fairy got off the bed and followed him. She looked worried. He was weak and had hardly gotten out of bed for a week. She didn’t want him to fall and hurt himself.

Mama Goldie stayed close to Rusty and prepared to catch him if he fell. “You should lay back down Rusty.”

Archer startled when Rusty whacked him. He frowned and looked at his son. “Let’s talk about this.”

“I don’t want to talk to you.” Rusty took aim again but missed. Archer had dodged it this time. He went after Archer when he left the room. He wanted to make sure he left. He still had the broom in his hand.

Branch had seen what happened from the entrance to the treatment room but moved towards the entrance to the bunker when Rusty started to chase Archer. He blocked Archer’s way out and smirked. “Get him Rusty!” He was so glad Rusty was feeling well enough to give Archer a piece of his mind.

Biggie was in the living space when Rusty came out with the broom, chasing Archer. Instead of hiding, he pulled out his camera. He wanted to capture this. It was amusing seeing a grown male being chased by a sickly and thin grown male. 

“Get lots of pictures Biggie. This is going in the photo album.” Sapphire giggled and whooped. “Get him Rusty!”

Archer ran around the living space. He was trapped and didn’t want to be whacked again. He glared at Branch as he passed by him. “Let me out!”

Rusty took a swing but missed his father again. “Don’t visit me again!”

“You heard him. Don’t come back here again, or I’ll help him give you an ass whooping.” Branch moved out of the way this time and watched as Archer left the bunker. He walked over to the door and closed it. He locked the door and looked at Rusty. “I’m sorry Rusty. Let’s get you into a recliner, since you’re well enough to join us in the living space.” He led him towards a recliner. He was glad that Rusty was feeling better. He was also glad that Harmony and Poppy had led the kids to a different room for a short lesson. They all didn’t want the children to get behind in school. What just happened would have certainly frightened some of them.

“Don’t let him in again. He’s no longer my father.” Rusty rasped angrily. He sat down in Branch’s recliner and winced when Branch put the feet up. Running around had jarred a few injuries, but he was no worse for wear. He closed his eyes and took a few shaky breaths. He still had a long way to go, but he was on his way towards recovery.

“You’re so brave, Rusty.” Sky whispered. He had just started to talk the day before, but it was a whisper, and he hadn’t said much. He mostly only talked to Harmony and Branch.

Fairy went to get a blanket and spread it over Rusty’s lap. He was holding himself, and she wanted him to have some privacy. She was sure that running around had made his penial injury sore. She gave him a stern look, before leaving to grab something for pain. She was glad he was feeling well enough to run around, but she wanted him to be careful. He still had a long way to go before he was well enough to really be running like that, but it was refreshing to see that he still had a lot of fight left inside of him.


	10. Best Buddies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sky and Rusty have a chat.

For the next month, the Thorn family and friends continued to lay low in the bunker. King Basil and Queen Poppy made daily visits above ground to make sure that the colony was still in one piece, and to do their daily activities. They were trying to slowly warm the rest of the colony up to the idea of allowing some of the laws of the colony to slip into the history books, and to allow for a less stressful lifestyle. They wanted their families to live in less fear. They had all been through a lot lately.

Insider the bunker, Rusty was making great improvements. He was slowly getting back to a normal diet and was able to get around a little more comfortably now. His voice was still raspy and hoarse. Fairy had warned him his voice may never be the same. He appeared to have suffered permanent damage to his vocal cords. He had spent the last month resting and trying to get better. He also found out he was pregnant, which was a miracle, all on its own. He had been on pain killers, had had a poor diet for early pregnancy, and had been stressed out. Fairy was already calling his pod her little miracle baby. He had also spent that time avoiding Sky. He felt guilty for Sky’s miscarriage, even though he didn’t know that Sky was in labor. He had been in his prison cell the day he lost his triplets and wished he had realized that things were not right at breakfast time, so that Sky could be with his family when he lost his babies. He felt bad that Sky was alone when he dealt with that heartbreak.

As morning rose, Biggie was the first in the kitchen. He was hungry and wanted to make pancakes. He was also pregnant, no thanks to Indigo, and was already having cravings. The large troll began making the batter. He was eager to sink his teeth into some maple syrup covered stacks.

The smell of pancakes had Rhapsody out of bed. At about four months pregnant, with quintuplets, he looked like he was ready to pop at any moment. He still needed to make it at least another month in his pregnancy, if his babies had a chance at survival, and was supposed to be on bedrest, but the smell of Biggie’s famous pancakes had him wanting to go to the kitchen. He thought of it as an excuse to stretch his legs. He came in and settled himself in a kitchen chair. “Those sure smell good.” He rested his hand on his swollen belly and smiled when one of the babies kicked him right in the hand.

“You’re out of bed? You need to be careful Rhapsody.” Biggie handed him over a stack of pancakes. “We all want those babies to make it.” He looked worried.

“I’ll go lay down on the couch as soon as I’m done eating.” Rhapsody dug into breakfast and groaned in delight. Biggie made the best pancakes. He grabbed a jar of peanut butter and put a big glob of it on his plate. He smiled up at Biggie when he gave him a glass of raspberry juice. “Thank you, Biggie.”

Sky joined them in the kitchen and frowned when he saw Rhapsody. “You should be resting.” He sat down beside him and put his hand on Rhapsody’s belly. He rested his ear along side Rhapsody’s belly and smiled when one of the babies wriggled next to his head. “Hello little ones.” He rubbed Rhapsody’s belly and closed his eyes. He was so glad that Rhapsody let him cuddle with his baby bump. He missed feeling his triplets move.

Biggie was working on eating his own stack of pancakes, while making more. He knew the bunker would want his pancakes. He took a moment to set a stack in front of Sky. He was more than happy to share.

“I’m resting. I’ll go lay down as soon as I’m done eating.” Rhapsody moved Sky’s hand to where he felt the most movement. He had no problem with Sky loving on his belly. They were Sky’s babies too, after all. He was trying to convince Sapphire to share the quintuplets. He wanted to give Sky three of them, and they would keep two, but Sapphire wanted to keep at least three of them. They hadn’t made an agreement yet. Regardless, the two families would share raising the quintuplets. They needed to know that they were all siblings and shared the same pod.

Rusty came in next. He stopped when he spotted Sky. He hesitated and glanced at Biggie. He wanted pancakes too but didn’t want to scare Sky. Sky had been acting strange around him, and he thought he was upset with him. He gave Sky a wide berth, before settling beside Biggie. He began taking care of dishes, in hopes he would earn himself some pancakes. 

Sky watched Rusty and frowned when he gave him lots of space. He teared up and snuggled into Rhapsody. He thought Rusty was angry with him, because of what happened with Indigo. If he had said something, Rusty would have never gotten hurt.

“Rusty, you’re still healing. Don’t worry about the dishes.” Biggie shooed him away and sat a new stack of pancakes down for Rusty to eat. “I appreciate the help, but I want you to heal properly.”

“Rusty, why do you walk around Sky like that? Is there something wrong? You’re scaring him.” Rhapsody spoke up. He didn’t like that Rusty gave Sky such a wide berth. He was protective of Sky, more so then he used to be. He wouldn’t put up with anyone mistreating his brother in law and father of his children.

Rusty sat down and began to eat. He became tense when Rhapsody called him out. He thought he was in trouble. “I didn’t know he was in pain the day the triplets came. I should have picked him up at breakfast time and carried him to the medical pod. At least he wouldn’t have been alone when he lost the triplets…”

Sky looked over at Rusty and frowned. “That’s why you been acting strange?” He looked a little relieved. He rubbed his nose and sniffled. “I thought you were mad at me for not telling on Indigo. If I had spoken up, you, Biggie, Stream, and Guy wouldn’t have been hurt.”

“I understand why you didn’t speak up. It’s alright Sky.” Biggie reassured Sky. “You were scared and hurting. Indigo was cruel to us all.”

Rhapsody smiled softly. “You didn’t know he was in labor. We all know that. It’s OK Rusty.”

Rusty felt a weight being lifted off himself. He relaxed a little bit and looked at his pancakes. “So, you’re not mad at me? I’m not mad at you. I know you were scared and trying to protect your family. I would have wanted to protect my family too.”

“I wasn’t mad at you.” Sky let Rhapsody go and walked over to Rusty. He gave him a gentle hug. He was so glad Rusty wasn’t mad at him. Of all the prison guards, Rusty was his favorite. He was the only one that would sneak him snacks, books, and letters from Harmony and his children. He had done the same thing for Rhapsody too.

Rusty smiled and held Sky with his good arm. His broken arm still had a cast on it. He was glad that Sky wasn’t upset with him.

Rhapsody let out a sigh of relief. They were all close friends, and the tension had been excruciating to watch. He hoped that time would help heal the deep wounds that all of them felt. It had been a very long and drawn out month. Things were now starting to look up, but they all still had a long way to go.


	11. There Was No Warning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tragedy leaves the Thorn family in tears.

Later that morning, after breakfast, Branch left the main living area to go check on Rose. She hadn’t gotten up yet, which was very unusual for her. She was normally an early riser and was helping in the kitchen. Nothing could prepare him for what he was about to see. As he turned the corner to Rose’s room, he was met with a grim sight. Sometime after Juniper had left the bedroom for breakfast, Rose got up, and had collapsed by the bed. She had died right there beside her bed. An unseen heart defect had claimed her at the age of twenty-one years old. A loud sob escaped him as he checked her for a pulse. She was already starting to cool. He went to turn her, to give her resuscitation efforts, but it was quickly clear that it was too late for that effort. He picked her up and placed her in the bed. He covered her with a blanket and went to get his siblings. This tragedy meant that there were only four of them left.

Sky had heard the sob and was the first to investigate why Branch was crying. He turned the corner right before Branch covered Rose’s face. He put his hands over his mouth and gasped. “Is she alright?!”

“No Sky, she’s gone.” Branch gave him a hug, before leaving to search for Basil, Sapphire, and Juniper. He silently wondered why Rainbow or Pumpkin hadn’t noticed Rose’s spirit yet. They had been playing with their cousins just moments earlier and didn’t seem distressed. He found Basil first. He pulled him aside and whispered to him to meet him in Rose’s room. He let him know what was going on.

Basil’s eyes went wide. He quickly hurried for his sister’s room. He had been so busy all morning, that he hadn’t notice her spirit disappear. He began to sob, as soon as he came into her room and didn’t sense her spirit.

Branch got Juniper next. He took her hand and led her to Sapphire. “I need you two to come with me.” He led them towards Juniper and Rose’s room. He told them what was going on, as he led them towards the room.

Sapphire sobbed as she followed her brother. She came around the corner and propelled herself to the side of the bed. She reached over to her twin sister and sniffled. “It’s not fair. I didn’t get to say good bye…”

Juniper’s eyes were as wide as saucers. She instantly faded gray. She snuggled into Rose’s side and held onto her. She didn’t want it to be so.

The family quickly prepared for a funeral. They would assure that Rose had a proper funeral and burial.

It took a few hours, before they were all set. Rose had been put in a casket, with some of her favorite things. Her family was in shock. She was so young and had appeared to be in good health. They didn’t see it coming.

Fig, Juniper’s father, was standing beside his grieving daughter, Juniper, along with his eight-year-old youngest, Holly, and his nineteen-year-old son, Yew. He was close to the family, since Juniper was married to Rose. He couldn’t believe that young Rose was gone. Juniper was almost twenty-two and was widowed at such a young age. He was worried about her. She didn’t deserve this heartbreak after what she went through, as a teenager.

Juniper didn’t feel good. Her heart was shattered. Her bond was strong with Rose. As they lowered Rose’s casket into the dirt, the young mother collapsed. She struggled to breathe and looked at her father with sad eyes. She whispered that she wanted to be with Rose, before she faded out of consciousness. Her heart stopped beating shortly after.

A scramble ensued, as a team of medical trolls worked on trying to save Juniper. They didn’t want her to die. She had three, six-year-old children that needed her.

Sassafras, Marjoram, and Lavender clung to Sky as Mama Goldie worked on trying to revive their mommy. They were already upset that their mama Rose was gone. They didn’t want to lose their mommy Juniper too.

Rainbow came running over and sobbed. “No! You have to stay!” She put her hands on Juniper and cried hard. She didn’t want to lose both of her aunties. Her heart was broken. She could see that Juniper’s spirit had already separated from her body.

Pumpkin scampered over and also tried to help, but he could see that Rose and Juniper’s spirits were already snuggled up to each other, watching on with sad eyes.

Mama Goldie worked on Juniper for a while. She frowned when it became clear that Juniper was gone. She looked up at Fig, with sympathy in his eyes. “I’m sorry. We lost her too…”

Fig had watched on with worried eyes. He sobbed when Mama Goldie told him that Juniper was gone. He had survived a broken heart, but it appeared his eldest wasn’t able to survive the loss of her mate. “She’s so young!” He gently picked her up and carried her to her home, so he could get her ready for her own funeral. He couldn’t believe she was gone too.

Yew held his sobbing sister, and led her over to Sassafras, Marjoram, and Lavender. He couldn’t believe his older sister was gone. He stayed with his grieving baby sister, nieces, and nephew. They were all frightened and upset.

It took a couple of hours for Fig to prepare Juniper for her own funeral. He watched as his daughter was laid to rest with her mate. He couldn’t believe that she was gone. He looked over at his orphaned grandchildren. Their futures were still uncertain, but he was going to assure that they went to a good home or he would raise them himself. He hoped that the loss of their mothers wouldn’t have devastating consequences on their futures.


	12. Grieving Siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basil’s family must figure out what to do with Rose and Juniper’s orphans.

After Juniper was put to rest, the trollings snuggled into each other for comfort. Lavender, Sassafras, and Marjoram were snuggled into the middle of them. Dill could sense that they were very scared. He began to sing, in hopes of comforting his frightened cousins. He was only seven years old, and he already understood enough about death, because of his sister’s ability, to know that their lives were temporary, and as scary as it was, death wasn’t as bad it appeared.

With Juniper buried, the adults gathered and began to talk about who would raise Rose and Juniper’s three children. Fig, Basil, Sky, and Sapphire all wanted to take them in, so now they needed to decide who of the four families would take the little ones in.

“I had custody of Lavender for the first few days of her life. I would love to take her and her twin siblings in. They’re all precious to me.” Basil looked hopeful. He had originally agreed to raise Lavender, until Rose changed her mind, and decided to raise her daughter herself. He felt responsible for her and her siblings.

“Basil, please let me take them. I know they won’t fill the hole I feel in my heart, but I miss my triplets. Let me have this chance?” Sky was worried that Basil would take them. He only had two kids. He wanted to raise his nieces and nephew really badly.

“They should stay with their half sister though. Petal needs her brother and sisters, just as much as they need her.” Sapphire argued gently. She knew that with Rhapsody’s babies, they were soon going to be busy, but she wanted Petal to have her siblings with her.

Fig listened and thought the younger parents all had valid points. He decided he would not take in his grandchildren. He loved the idea of staying grandpa. He looked among them and smiled softly. “Why don’t you all share responsibility, but let them stay with Sapphire? She’s right, Petal, Lavender, Marjoram, and Sassafras are all siblings, and should stay together. I support her decision.”

“Sapphire, if we take them, I want Sky to have three of the quintuplets. It will be fair.” Rhapsody chimed in. He was in a wheelchair, since none of them wanted him walking around too much. He leaned back and watched the grieving siblings. He couldn’t imagine the pain they were going through. He couldn’t imagine losing either of his sisters. He especially felt bad for Sky. He wanted Sky to endure this with as little heartache as possible. He knew Sky’s heart was shattered further. All five of the surviving Thorn children had been close, and Rose’s loss, so soon after losing his triplets, had to be devastating for the grieving father.

Sapphire nodded in agreement. She understood that, that would only be fair. She reached over and pulled Sky and Basil close. She began to cry hard. Rose was her twin, and she felt a huge hole in her heart. She didn’t want to lose any of them. She reached over to Branch next, and embraced him when he joined in. “You boys are not allowed to die on me. I need you.” She sniffled and drooped her ears. She was so scared. Sometimes twins died close to each other, after their twin bond was shattered. She had to stay there and take care of her babies.

Basil, Branch, and Sky held their little sister and cried with her. They planned to protect Sapphire with their lives. She had almost died multiple times in her life and had remained in the living world. They wanted to keep her there, where they felt she belonged.

The grieving family was interrupted when Archer came walking over. He stormed right over to Rhapsody and glared at him. “You and Sky are supposed to be in the bunker for another month and a half. What the hell are you two doing above ground?! The funeral is over! Go home!”

Mama Goldie heard her husband’s outburst. She had stayed, to assure that everyone got through the burial without another broken heart. She had been snuggling with the trollings when Archer came. She let them go and stormed towards him. “They just lost their sisters! Back off Archer! Go home!” She snapped angrily. She was tired and in no mood for his nonsense. 

“Why are you siding with them, Goldie?! They broke a law and are being punished for that!” Archer snapped at his wife. He didn’t understand why she was OK with what Sky and Rhapsody’s misbehavior.

“Because I want to do what is right Archer! I said go home! Their family has been through enough today!” Mama Goldie began shoving Archer away from the graveyard. She didn’t like that he was scaring the children. Fear was all over their faces.

“Stop shoving me!” Archer growled and shoved her back. He was angry. “Supporting breaking the law is not right and you know that!” He clenched his fist and punched Mama Goldie. He gasped and backed up when he realized what he did. He turned and ran off to sulk.

Mama Goldie was also stunned. He nailed her in the face. She put her hand up to her right eye and held her face. She was pretty sure she would get a black eye from that. She fell to her knees and began to cry.

Poppy had watched the whole thing. She walked over to Mama Goldie and embraced her. “I can’t believe he did that. I’m so sorry.” She held her most trusted doctor and frowned. Archer was in trouble for that outburst. He shouldn’t have hit Mama Goldie.

“I want a separation.” Mama Goldie whispered. She knew divorce was illegal, under Troll law, but she no longer felt a bond with her mate. He was starting to get mean, and she didn’t like it.

“I’ll see what we can do. For now, you can sleep in the bunker.” Basil walked over and embraced Mama Goldie as well. He was angry that Archer hurt her. He was getting fed up with Archer’s behavior. He was getting increasingly hostile.

“Let’s get everyone back into the bunker, before anything else happens.” Branch began leading his friends and family back into the bunker. He planned on having a long talk with Archer. Archer was usually a nice troll, but his outbursts lately, were getting out of control. This needed to end soon, before Archer lost all of the trolls that he cared about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the song that Dill sang. I do not own the song! All rights go to the creators!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iwOFpgNELE


	13. Archer Is In Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> King Basil, Queen Poppy, and Branch confront Archer with what he did to Mama Goldie.

After everyone was settled back into the bunker, King Basil, Queen Poppy, and Branch went searching for Archer. Striking Mama Goldie wasn’t going to go unpunished. Divorce may have been illegal, but so was striking a mate, and although Mama Goldie had shoved Archer aggressively, she didn’t hit him, but he hit her. All three were angry as they searched Archer and Goldie’s home for him. 

Branch found him hiding in his closest. He grabbed him and pulled him out. “You’re going to get your just dessert. Let’s go Archer.” He led him towards the door. What he did wasn’t warrant for death, but it was going to land him in prison for a little while. “Come on Basil and Poppy. I got him.” He began leading him towards the prison cells.

“I’m sorry for hitting her. I wasn’t thinking straight.” Archer hung his head as he was led towards the prison cells. He knew he was in big trouble.

“Archer Stone, you’re sentenced to one month of solitary confinement for striking Dr. Goldie. Shame on you for hitting her. She was just trying to protect grieving trolls.” Queen Poppy scolded Archer angrily as she caught up. “I’m going to talk to Elder Ukulele about this, and if she grants it, you and Mama Goldie will be getting a divorce. You better think about what you’ve done. She says this wasn’t the first time you’ve hit her.” She was fuming angry. She wouldn’t tolerate abuse in her kingdom. Mama Goldie didn’t deserve it at all.

Basil smacked Archer upside the head as he approached. “You’re a moron! Mama Goldie is one of the best trolls in the village. What is wrong with you?!”

Branch assured Archer got to the prison cell. He shoved him in and smacked him in the buttocks with his hair. He slammed the door shut and locked the door. He turned to Poppy and frowned. “Do you need me to come with you to talk to Ukulele?”

“No Branch, I want you and Basil to go home and give Sky and Sapphire love. They need you right now.” Queen Poppy gave him and Basil a hug, and then headed for the medical pod. Ukulele was still there, recovering from her broken hip.

Archer went to his new bed and laid down. He rubbed his buttocks and sulked. He knew he deserved this sentencing but didn’t think he was going to get a divorce. It was illegal and didn’t think Ukulele would budge. She was a stickler for rules.

Once at the medical pod, Poppy turned to make sure Branch and Basil got to the bunker alright. When she saw them go inside, she opened the door and walked over to Ukulele’s bedside. “Elder Ukulele, how are you feeling today?”

Ukulele was reading a book with a pair of reading glasses when Queen Poppy came in. She set the book aside and took her glasses off. She sat them aside and smiled at her queen. “Queen Poppy, this is a pleasant surprise. Shouldn’t you be with your family? I heard about Rose and Juniper…” She shifted in her bed, painfully. It was going to take a while for her to recover. She couldn’t walk yet and had chosen to stay in the medical pod during the funeral. She had had surgery just a few days earlier to fix some of her hip bones. She was still in a lot of pain. She avoided Poppy’s question. She didn’t want to admit that she was in pain.

“You know I love finding time for you, even on a busy day.” Poppy took the elder’s hand and smiled at her. “I won’t stay long, because you’re right, my family needs me right now. I actually needed to talk to you about something that happened right after the funeral.”

“Are Creek and Stream alright?” Ukulele suddenly looked worried. She had only had one child, and that only child only had a set of twin boys. She was very protective of her grandchildren and great children. She thought Stream may have gotten pregnant. She hoped for him, that he was spared that heartache. It was hard enough knowing that Rusty and Biggie were pregnant because of Indigo.

“They’re alright. Being great support systems during this time, which is very helpful.” Poppy smiled softly. She knew Ukulele was protective of her grandchildren. “It’s Archer. He got aggressive after the funeral and demanded that Rhapsody and Sky return to the bunker immediately, because they are still on pod arrest. Mama Goldie went to their rescue, since Sky is grieving, and Rhapsody is supporting Sapphire. She started shoving him away, so he struck her.” She sighed and shook her head. “She told me after we got into the bunker that this hasn’t been the first time. He has done it before, behind closed doors. She wants a divorce, but I know laws require separation, to see how it goes, and then life away from each other after if it’s still bad. For her protection, I think a divorce will be better, but we must get your permission to do so. Archer is in prison for a month, for what he has done.”

“He’s being abusive?” Ukulele frowned and crossed her arms. “He has no right. She’s the best doctor we’ve ever had in my lifetime.” She remembered when Mama Goldie was a child. She had always been maternal and sweet, which was how she got the nickname Mama. She was angry that anyone would hurt her. “I’ll grant this divorce.” She softened her face a little. “I want to discuss other laws as well, that do need some changes, but I want to wait until I’m back on my feet. Mama Goldie said it might take my old bones another couple of months, since I will require at least one more surgery to fix the damage Indigo inflicted on me.”

“Another surgery? I’m so sorry Ukulele. I can’t imagine.” Poppy gave her a gentle hug. “Get some rest. We’ll talk about those laws, when you feel better.”

Ukulele held Poppy and smiled softly. “I know it’s been hard lately, but you’re doing the right things. I’m proud of you and King Basil, even if I don’t show it sometimes.” She let Poppy go and had her look up. “I love you, young one. Have Stream and Creek pay me a visit please? When they have a chance. I would love to see them more often.” She knew why Creek and Stream were hiding, and protecting their families, and didn’t blame them. They had been through a lot lately.

“I’ll send them this way. I love you, Elder Ukulele.” Poppy let Ukulele go, and then headed for the door. She left the medical pod and headed for the bunker. It appeared she was nudging Ukulele towards changing some laws, and she was grateful. She just wanted what was best for everyone.


	14. Little Bundles Of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhapsody delivers his tiny trollings.

For the next month, the entire colony seemed a little less stressed. Archer’s prison sentence seemed to release some tension. He had been a major cause of tension, and everyone felt like they could be at ease. It was the day before his prison release, when Rhapsody’s condition changed. He had just finished lunch, when he felt a tight squeeze in his belly. When it was over, he got up and waddled towards the bathroom. He was very uncomfortable, and cranky. He glared at the door when he found it locked. “Whoever is in the bathroom needs to hurry it up, or there is going to be pee on the floor!” He gritted his teeth when the next contraction squeezed in his belly. “Damn it!” He held himself and groaned. He didn’t want to pee himself.

Petal opened the door to the bathroom and looked up at her daddy. “Are you OK daddy?” She moved out of the way when Rhapsody bolted for the toilet. She looked worried. Rhapsody usually didn’t sound that cranky. She thought he was mad at her.

Rhapsody sat on the toilet and sighed in relief as he released his bladder. “Daddy is in labor sweet girl. Can you please go get mama?”

Petal nodded and hobbled off to get Sapphire. She was more than happy to help him and was relieved that he wasn’t mad at her. She found Sapphire, in the kitchen. “Daddy is in labor. He’s in the bathroom. He’s in a bad mood.”

Sapphire frowned and hurried towards the bathroom as fast as she could propel. Rhapsody had about a month left of his pregnancy. The babies were expected to arrive early, but this early scared her. She got into the bathroom and put her hand on his belly. “Are you sure it’s labor?”

“I think so Sapphire.” Rhapsody cleaned up and showed her that there was some blood on his birthing site. He got up and winced as fluids ran down his legs. “Oh god, they’re definitely coming…” He looked worried. He wanted them to be OK.

Sapphire helped Rhapsody with his pants and led him towards the treatment room. “Fairy! Mama Goldie! We need help!” She called them loudly. She was very worried about their babies. She hoped they would survive. They had worked hard for these little ones.

Fairy hurried into the treatment room and smiled softly. She got onto the bed and helped Rhapsody out of his pants. “I was wondering if you might go into labor soon. You’re the roundest troll I’ve ever seen.” She teased gently. She checked him and looked up at him. “Labor just started. It can last anywhere from an hour to all day, so I want you to rest between contractions. Laying on your side sometimes helps.”

Mama Goldie came in and helped Rhapsody into a comfortable position. She got ready to deliver five premature babies. She hoped that all five came out healthy for them. “Don’t forget to breathe.”

Rhapsody laid on his side and breathed during the next contraction. He was already uncomfortable and hoped it didn’t last all day. He didn’t look forward to delivery. He was already in a lot of pain. He used a few colorful words when he felt one of the babies kick his ribs.

Petal had followed them around for a little while, before she was escorted away to go play by Branch. She looked worried as she held Branch’s hand. She wanted to make sure Rhapsody was OK.

“I’ll go get Sky.” Sapphire left to get Sky and Harmony. She knew they would want to be there for the birth of the quintuplets. She found Sky in the kitchen, doing dishes. She grabbed him by the shirt and gave him a light tug. “It’s time, big brother. The babies are coming.” She smiled softly, before making her way back to her husband. She saw Harmony on the way. “It’s time Harmony. Your brother is in labor.”

Sky dried his hands and made his way to the treatment room. He turned the corner and stood in the doorway. He was nervous for multiple reasons. He wondered what they would look like, if they would be healthy, and which ones Harmony and him would get to raise. Tears filled his eyes and ran down his cheeks. He would be just over five months pregnant with the triplets right now, if they were still inside him. He missed them so much.

“Come on daddy, let’s go welcome our youngest babies.” Harmony led her mate towards her brother. She sat down beside Rhapsody and took his hand. “Thank you, Rhapsody, for doing this for us. We all love you so much.”

Rhapsody smiled softly and squeezed his little sister’s hand. “For you, little sister, I would do anything.”

It took twelve exhausting hours for Rhapsody to finally feel the urge to push. He was squirming with discomfort now. He was having a hard time holding still. “Oh god…” He bared down and pushed. He groaned and grunted as he pushed. He glanced at the time, noticing that the first baby or three would be born one day, and the rest would likely come on the following day. “Their birthdays won’t all be on the same day…” He breathed hard and looked down as his first baby arrived.

Sky stood up when Rhapsody began to push. He put his hands down there and caught the first of the quintuplets as she made her grand appearance. He gently gave her to Fairy and watched as she cleaned her up. He had begged to deliver his own children and was given permission to do so. He had delivered his first-born son and daughter too, and didn’t want this to be different. He shook with nerves. He didn’t like how tiny that first baby was but knew Harmony’s family had trolls that were short in stature.

The tiny newborn was mostly light teal, like Sky, but had patches of blue, yellow, and raspberry on her skin. Her hair was royal blue with a light blue hair tip. She cried as Fairy cleaned her.

“The first one is a girl. She’s very pretty.” Sapphire kissed Rhapsody and ran her hand through his hair.

“She’s got a good set of lungs on her.” Fairy got her all clean, and then gave her to Sapphire to hold.

Rhapsody whimpered and bared down for the second baby. He was tired, after hours of labor. He knew he had four more to go.

Sky caught the next baby as she was born. She was an identical twin of the first baby. He gently gave her to Mama Goldie. He got ready to catch the third born.

Mama Goldie was ready for the next baby. She began cleaning her and smiled when she began to cry. “Rhapsody makes cute kids.” She gently handed the second born to Sapphire, so that the identical twin girls could be together.

Rhapsody groaned and took a few deep breaths, between contractions. He bared down and pushed for the third baby. He was exhausted.

“Got a breech boy coming Rhapsody. Push hard.” Sky helped ease their son out. He supported him gently. He could see he was a solid shade of dark purple. He got him out and gently handed him to Fairy.

The little one had three toned royal blue, blue, and green hair. He struggled to get his first breath. He wasn’t getting the fluids out as easily as his sisters had.

Fairy rubbed the boy roughly and patted his little bottom. “Come on sweetheart. I know it’s hard when you’re early, but we need you to breathe.” She cleared his mouth and nose. She gently rolled him, so he was facing down. She flicked his feet to get him mad. She smiled when he let out an angry cry. “That’s it…good boy…”

Rhapsody watched his son and sighed in relief when he began to cry. He thought for a moment that he was going to die on them. He rested his head back and breathed. “Thank god he’s alright. Two more…” He groaned and bared down to push.

“Good job Rhapsody. Got another breech, but she’s coming out faster then he did.” Sky had tears in his eyes as he caught a pink girl with raspberry colored patches. “She sort of looks like Rose…” He sniffled and gently gave her to Mama Goldie. “She’s so pretty.”

The little girl had raspberry and light pink two toned hair. She cried as Mama Goldie cleaned her up.

“One more Rhapsody. You’re doing a great job.” Sapphire couched her husband gently. She had her eyes on the first two girls. She was trembling with worry and excitement. She had seen that the fourth baby looked like her sister. She hoped she could keep that one.

Rhapsody was so tired, but was determined to get this done. He groaned and bared down for the last baby. He looked down when he pushed the youngest baby out. He watched as Sky cleaned that one up.

“This one looks just like Sapphire. Even has glitter.” Sky cleaned the last born and smiled when he began to cry. “Hello sweetheart. You had to be the only glitter trolling, didn’t you?” He knew it was rare for regular trolls to have a glitter baby, but it definitely ran on his side of the family.

Harmony watched on and smiled. She could see that the batch of newborn preemies were colorful and could hear their cries. She was glad they were alright. She moved closer, to get a better look, since her vision was so blurry. “They’re so cute.” She wondered which ones they would be raising.

Sapphire watched as Sky cleaned the last baby. They now had a very hard decision to make. She looked between the five babies and teared up. She wanted to keep them all.

Rhapsody breathed hard and reached over to rest his hand on Sapphire’s cheek. “Let’s keep the two youngest, and give Sky the first three? It’s going to be alright mama. They won’t be far from us.” He knew this was hard for her. He knew she wanted to keep all five of them.

Sapphire nodded and sniffled. She looked at Sky. “The first three babies are yours to name and raise big brother.”

Sky gently gave the last born to Rhapsody. He looked between the five and smiled softly. He nodded and gave Sapphire a hug. “Rhapsody should give them milk their first day. It’s important for their health.” He was taking herbs to help produce milk, but he knew the first day of milk had extra antibodies for the newborn babies. He wanted the best for them.

“I agree. They’re so cute.” Fairy gently helped set Rhapsody up to feed his sons first. The babies were tiny but were able to figure it out quickly. She rested her hand on her own belly and smiled softly. She was going to have her own baby in a couple of months. She knew how exhausting it was.

After talking it over, Sky and Harmony named the first two girls Tiramisu and Panna Cotta, and named the first boy Tsunami, since he was a little fighter. Sapphire and Rhapsody had decided on Petunia and Lotus, in honor of Rose.

After all five of the babies were fed, Rhapsody was fed a well deserved dinner, before settling down for a nap. The exhausted father was in need of some sleep. It had been a busy day for him. Sapphire settled down beside him and held him. She was so proud of him and was very grateful that he was able to have the quintuplets at home. If he was still in prison, things could have gone badly, especially for Tsunami. She couldn’t wait to watch them all grow up.


	15. Mama Has A Bad Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mama Goldie has a bad day, shortly after Archer is released from prison.

The following day, Basil released Archer with a firm warning that he was to leave Mama Goldie alone. Archer went home to an empty house. Mama Goldie had moved all of her things out of their home. He didn’t believe that the divorce happened, since law made it so that trolls were married for life. He wanted to talk to her alone, but knew it was hard to get her alone. She was almost always with someone. He decided he would wait for a time that she was alone at the medical pod. It was later that night, that he noticed the last of the nurses leave. Mama Goldie normally worked overnight, since it was a shift that some of the younger medical trolls didn’t care for.

Archer approached the medical pod and went inside. He closed the door behind himself and frowned when he realized Ukulele was still in there. He noticed she was asleep, so he went around her bed, and walked over to his ex-wife. He grabbed her and glared at her. “You didn’t visit me while I was in prison.” He was livid that none of his family had come to see him.

Mama Goldie startled badly. She pulled away from him and looked at him with wide eyes. “Of course not. You hurt me for the last time Archer. I was approved of, for a divorce. You’re not my husband anymore.”

“Yes, I am!” Archer grabbed her by the arm and sneered. “You married me, and marriage is for life Goldie!”

Ukulele woke up when Archer rose his voice. She looked over and frowned. “Archer?! What are you doing here?!” She glanced around to see if anyone else was in there. She was in no position to help. All attempt to learn how to walk again had failed. Her old body didn’t take the broken hip well. 

“Our divorce was authorized! Let me go!” Mama Goldie struggled in Archer’s grasp. She was scared. The last time he was this angry, it was not long after she had had her twins. He had broken her arm. “You’re hurting me!”

“You’re my wife! This divorce is invalid!” Archer snapped angrily. He shoved her towards the backroom, so that Ukulele didn’t see what he had in mind. He forced her into the backroom and shoved her into a bed. “You’re mine and will never be anyone else’s!” He forced himself onto her and began raping her.

“No! God damn it Archer! I stopped taking contraceptives! Get off me!” Mama Goldie was livid and tried to fight back. She didn’t want to mate, and knew she was receptive at that time. She didn’t want to get pregnant, but she hadn’t been through the change yet. “I said no!”

Archer ignored her plea for him to stop. He smacked her when she started to fight back. He held her down and continued what he was doing.

Ukulele could hear the struggle in the backroom. She wasn’t sure what to do. She couldn’t walk. She looked at the door and started calling for help. She didn’t like that Archer was hurting Mama Goldie.

Mama Goldie held her face and looked away. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She gave up, and sniffled. She didn’t want to get hurt. She didn’t want her grandchildren seeing her with a black eye again.

Archer rolled his eyes when Ukulele called for help. He wasn’t worried about what he was doing right now. She didn’t have a mark on her, as far as he could tell, and he was her husband as far as he was concerned. It wasn’t Ukulele’s business.

Creek had been on his way to check up on Ukulele when he heard her yelling. He had got this feeling in his gut that something wasn’t right with his grandma, so he thought a midnight check wouldn’t hurt. He hurried into the medical pod and looked Ukulele over. “Are you alright?!”

“Archer dragged Mama Goldie into the backroom. I’m worried about her.” Ukulele looked towards the backroom. She hoped Mama Goldie was alright.

Mama Goldie heard Creek. She tensed up, worried that things might take an intense turn. She avoided eye contact with Archer. She was terrified.

Archer heard Creek too. He murmured angrily but kept a hold of Mama Goldie. He wasn’t done, yet.

Creek walked over to the backroom door. He put his ear to the door. “What are you doing to her Archer?!” He could sense that Mama Goldie was stressed out and that Archer was angry. “Come out here, now!”

“The key to this room is in the medicine cabinet, by the dried mint leaves.” Mama Goldie told Creek. She was glad he was there, but very nervous. She hoped Archer didn’t get violent. She tried once again to shove Archer off. She didn’t want to mate.

Archer was angry that she told Creek where the key was. He pulled out of her and began to beat her angrily. He knew he was in trouble now and was pissed that he was about to go back to prison. 

Creek hurried to the medicine cabinet and grabbed the key. He could hear a scuffle on the other side of the door. He came in and pulled Archer away from Mama Goldie. He shoved him into the wall and sneered. “You cruel son of a bitch!” He could see that Mama Goldie was hurt and shaken. He was angry that the grandmother of his children was injured. He got a hold of Archer’s hands and began shoving him towards the prison cell.

Mama Goldie got up and moved to the corner of the room. She coward there and closed her eyes. She was bruised, sore, and frightened. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do if he got out of prison after this sentencing. The entire event was frightening, and she had a bad feeling he may have broken her arm, near the wrist. She was in a lot of pain.

Archer struggled in Creek’s grasp. He wriggled loose and grabbed Creek by arm. “She’s my wife! I did nothing wrong!”

“You’re a wife beater, and you will not hurt her again!” Creek struggled with Archer for several minutes, before pulling out his knife. He began stabbing him angrily. He had tried to do this without resorting to killing him, but Archer had left him no choice.

After a short struggle, Archer went still. He was unable to survive the stab wounds.

Creek got up and dropped his knife beside Archer’s body. He left to get King Basil and Queen Poppy. He explained to them what happened, as he walked them back to Archer. He was a little roughed up and bruised but was going to be fine.

Basil picked up Archer and began carrying him away. He wasn’t going to give the abusive male a chance at a proper funeral. He didn’t feel like he deserved one.

Poppy went into the medical pod and found Mama Goldie in the backroom. She helped her to her feet and led her to the front room. She helped her clean up and settled her next to Ukulele. She left to get another medical troll to take over for the night. Mama Goldie needed to take at least a week or two off, since her wrist was injured. She couldn’t imagine the pain she just experienced, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Once she returned, she led Mama Goldie towards the bunker. She wanted their best doctor safe and taken care of.

Mama Goldie walked with Poppy towards the bunker. She hung her head and avoided eye contact with everyone. She was embarrassed and heartbroken. She would have requested not to be alone in the medical pod, if she knew this would happen. She wasn’t even aware, yet, that Archer was dead. She hoped that her boys and grandchildren stayed safe. She didn’t want them to get hurt too. None of them had done anything wrong.


	16. A Surprising Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mama Goldie makes a confession, that changes everything.

In the wee hours of the morning, just hours after being raped and beaten, Mama Goldie was finally released from the treatment room with a splint on her wrist. It wasn’t as bad as she had thought. It was sprained, and tender, but it wasn’t broken. The worse of her injuries was the sprain. She settled down at the kitchen table and sipped on a cup to tea. She was sore and didn’t think she was going to be able to sleep that night. She was used to staying up at night anyway, but her mind was spinning. That night had happened so fast and brought back horrible memories. She avoided eye contact with everyone who talked to her and checked on her. She was very jumpy.

Former King Peppy got wind of what happened, after commotion outside had awaken him. Basil had told him about what happened to Mama Goldie. He asked to go into the bunker, so he could console her. As soon as he was let inside, he walked over to Mama Goldie and embraced her. He held her to him and ran his hand through her hair as she began to sob. He gently led her to the couch and settled her in his lap. He held her as she let all of her emotions go.

Mama Goldie was facing Peppy on his lap. She had her arms around his chest, and her head rested on his chest, near the shoulder. She cried hard into him. She was close friends with Peppy and was glad he came over. She knew she could trust him, more so then anyone else.

“I’ve got you…” Peppy pulled a tissue out and dried her face. “He’ll never hurt you again.” He was glad that Creek killed Archer. He had suspected for years that Archer was mean to Mama Goldie, but she never admitted to the abuse. He wished she had. He would have stopped it years earlier.

Mama Goldie slowly calmed down, and remained snuggled into Peppy for some time, before lifting her head and looking him in the eyes. She sniffled and rubbed her face of tears. “He raped me Peppy. What if I get pregnant? I’m receptive right now.” She looked worried. She was no spring chicken. Her eldest was twenty-five, and she was going on forty-seven. She had grandchildren and was a very busy doctor. She had her concerns.

“If life happens, it’ll work out.” Peppy caressed her cheek and smiled softly. “I’m here for you. I always have been.”

“I know you are and have.” Mama Goldie rested her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes. “If rules were different, I would have left Archer, and would have married you after Lily died…”

“We had no control over the rules back then. Things happened for a reason. I would have loved to have had you, but things didn’t work out like that. The rules are there for a reason. To protect us from heartache and death. We seem to be able to cope with the death of our mates though and survived it.” King Peppy sighed softly and snuggled with Mama Goldie. He missed Lily, and hadn’t found love again after her, but had always had a special place in his heart for Goldie. She was Lily’s best friend and had always been there for her. He remembered how much it broke his heart when Lily lost her life. Mama Goldie had tried to save her, but Lily ended up having complications after Poppy was born and died shortly after. She wet nursed Poppy for him and had been a great godmother to his daughter. He would never forget that.

“Are you doing OK mom?” Rusty came into the living space and sat by Peppy on the couch. He didn’t like that she was beaten and raped by the male he called father not that long ago. He had mixed feelings about Archer’s death but was glad that he got his just dessert. He was wrong for hurting his mama.

“I’m going to be alright son.” Mama Goldie reached her hand over and took his hand. She squeezed it gently and smiled softly. “I love you sweetheart.”

Peppy smiled and pulled Rusty closer. “Your mama needs some love kiddo.”

“I love you too.” Rusty rested his hand on his mama’s back and rubbed her back gently. He knew how much it hurt to be raped and that she was going to need time. “I can’t believe he was my sperm donor. I’m glad he is gone.”

Mama Goldie suddenly had a guilty look on her face. She looked at Peppy, and then at Rusty. She took a shaky breath and rested her head on Peppy’s chest. “Archer wasn’t your father Rusty. You and Dusty were conceived twenty-one years ago, on a night that I drank too much. Your real father also drank too much, and we ended up in bed with each other. Archer knew I cheated on him the day you and your brother were born, but I lied to him and told him that my great grandfather was a red glitter troll. For years he believed it to be true. I think recently he realized I lied. This is all my fault…” Tears filled her eyes and ran down her cheeks. “I had to keep this secret, for your safety, Dusty’s safety, the safety of the colony, and so that I wouldn’t be killed. Our colony needed me…”

Peppy stayed quiet. He played with Mama Goldie’s hair. He had a guilty look on his face.

Rusty looked stunned at first, but his expression slowly relaxed. “I’m not related to that asshole?! Thank god!” He frowned when Mama Goldie started to cry. “It’s OK mom. I’m not mad. It’s going to be alright. Regardless if you broke the rules or not, no one is going to kill you over that. Please don’t be upset. This certainly isn’t your fault. Archer should have raised us, regardless of how we came to be. He was a jerk for treating us and you differently, just because we didn’t share his blood.”

“Feels like it’s my fault.” Mama Goldie startled when Peppy dried her face again. She snuggled into Peppy and sighed tiredly.

“You’re right Rusty, he should have treated you no differently.” Peppy nodded in agreement. He always believed that no troll should be left behind, no matter what.

Rusty rubbed her back gently. “It’s alright mom. I love you…” He thought for a moment and frowned. “So, who is my father? Is he alive?”

Mama Goldie swallowed hard and looked up at Rusty. She bit her bottom lip for a moment, before looking down. “Yes, your father is alive. I’ve been sworn to secrecy. I can’t tell you who he is.”

“It’s alright Goldie. You can tell him. It’s time he knew.” Peppy encouraged Mama Goldie gently.

Rusty looked confused. He wasn’t sure why Peppy was giving her permission.

Mama Goldie sighed softly and shrank into Peppy, as much as she could. She feared that her sons would hate her for what she was about to tell Rusty. She hoped they would one day forgive her. “Your real father is the male sitting next to you Rusty. It’s Peppy…”

Peppy was tense. He had a feeling Rusty would be angry at him, for never telling him, but he had to keep this secret, for the safety of all trolls he loved and cared for.

“You’re my dad?!” Rusty looked surprised, but relieved at the same time. It was no wonder he was a rusty red color. He had gotten that color from his grandma, Queen Ruby, who was a red glitter troll. “Can I give you a hug?” He opened his arms. He was so glad he knew the truth. He wondered for years if he was even related to Archer at all. He was glad he knew who his real dad was.

Mama Goldie sighed in relief and gasped when Peppy pulled Rusty in close. She snuggled into her son and Peppy. She was so relieved that Rusty wasn’t mad. She still had to tell Dusty. She was still very nervous.

Poppy stepped into the room. She had her hand over her mouth. She had heard the whole thing. “Rusty and Dusty are my half-brothers?! You never told me that!” She squealed and joined into the hugging. She couldn’t believe her ears. She wish she knew sooner. She was very excited. She thought she was an only child.

Rusty chuckled and hugged Poppy. He had an older sister and didn’t even know it. He looked between them all and smiled. “I guess this means we have more reason to change the rules. If we open some of the laws up to change, maybe there will be less hurt?”

Peppy sighed softly and looked between the three of them. “I agree with you Rusty. We’ll get this sorted out soon. Ukulele is a difficult troll to precede, and the elder of the colony has the final choice. It’s been that way for hundred years, because…”

“The elder is the wisest.” Mama Goldie finished his sentence. She knew things could still go badly for them, but after what happened with Archer, it may have set the course for change. She hoped that Ukulele stayed on their side. She was going to need her more so now, then ever.


	17. A Busy Bunker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mama Goldie has a busy morning.

For the next six weeks, Ukulele made the transition into Branch’s bunker, since that was were Creek and Stream were currently living. She was still dependent on help, and it was becoming clear that she was going to need help for the rest of her life. She could no longer walk safely on her own, and when she did walk, it was with a walker with someone right by her side. She was glad to be with her family again. It was rough living in the medical pod for nearly three months. 

In the early morning hours, Mama Goldie was awake. She was still living in the bunker, until she knew if she was pregnant or not, because of the circumstances behind the divorce and rape. She was worried about her safety. She was engaged to Peppy now but was worried tensions might be high anyway. She was a stressed-out mama. She kept rubbing her belly. She had examined herself earlier, and noticed her pod was quite enlarged. She was waiting for Fairy to wake up, so she could confirm what she was fearing. She was very sure she was pregnant with not only one child, but at least two or maybe three. She knew the chances of multiples were high, since twins ran on her side of the family, she had had a set of twins before, and she was likely about to go through the change. She had a feeling her pod sprout at least two or three seeds, in hopes of getting one last batch of trollings, before she was too old to have anymore. She was angry, that her late ex-husband forced these babies on her. She was getting older, and this was a task she felt she was getting too old to endure.

Fairy woke up not long after Mama Goldie had. She crawled out of bed and waddled towards her door. She was in desperate need to use the toilet. She was five and a half months pregnant and getting increasingly uncomfortable. She remembered being this round with Pearl, so she was very sure she would have a single, dwarf sized baby. She had already asked for a home birth, knowing that Mama Goldie wasn’t that far away. She opened her door and smiled softly when she saw Mama Goldie. “Good morning mom.” She headed straight for the bathroom. She was worried she wouldn’t make it. Her cheeks flushed red when she went to open the door. It was locked. She knocked on the door and held herself. 

There was no answer at the door. Symphony had gotten up early to go to the bathroom. She locked the door, so no one bothered her while she went potty, and she didn’t hear the knock.

Mama Goldie saw her daughter in law head for the bathroom. She waited quietly nearby.

Fairy pounded on the door when there was no answer. She really had to go. “Whoever is in there, let me in right now!” She squirmed for about another minute, before going still. She bit her bottom lip as she began peeing herself during a contraction. A soft whimper of discomfort and embarrassment escaped her. She didn’t miss this part of pregnancy. She wanted a bath now.

Mama Goldie heard the whimper. She came to investigate and frowned when she saw the puddle. “It’s alright Fairy. It happens sometimes when the baby drops.” She went to get a towel and began cleaning up the mess. She remembered doing the same thing, the day she had her twins. She knew how embarrassing it was.

Symphony came out and frowned when she saw Fairy. She saw that Fairy’s pajamas were wet. She suddenly had a guilty look on her face. She used sign language to apologize to Fairy, for making her wait and letting her soil herself. If she had known, she wouldn’t have taken her time.

Fairy saw Symphony come out. She now knew why the door didn’t open right away. She understood and smiled at the seven-year-old. She would have been angry at anyone else, but her. She knew the young girl was deaf. She signed to her that it was alright, and that she wasn’t mad at her. She grimaced slightly during the next contraction. She put her hand on her belly and looked up at Mama Goldie. “I think the baby is ready to come.”

Mama Goldie smiled softly and helped Fairy into the bathroom. “Let’s get a bath taken care of, so you don’t feel gross during labor.” She began running a bath. She knew how uncomfortable it was to be wet and smelly. She was happy to help her get cleaned up.

Symphony followed them in curiously. She wanted to make sure Fairy was alright. She didn’t like that Fairy had grimaced.

Fairy removed her soiled clothing, and blushed when she saw that Symphony followed. She was about to ask her to go, when birthing fluid pooled at her feet. She groaned and put her hand on the side of the tub. “I want Rusty in here. I don’t think this labor will last long. I think I’ll have a water birth.”

Mama Goldie nodded helped Fairy into the bathtub. She turned and gently led Symphony out of the bathroom. She signed to her that Fairy was about to have her baby. She asked her to get Branch, just in case she needed help. She was starting to feel a little nauseous. She then headed for Rusty and Fairy’s room, to get her son.

Symphony left to get her daddy. She had a determined look on her face. She wanted to help them.

Fairy eased into the water and leaned back in the bathtub. She checked herself gently and groaned. She could feel that she was already opened up nicely. It wasn’t going to be long at all.

Mama Goldie got Rusty awake, and then bolted back for the bathroom. She went inside and glanced at Fairy, before going to the toilet. She began heaving into the toilet.

Rusty wasn’t far behind her. He winced when his mother began to puke into the toilet. He watched her for a moment, before turning his attention to Fairy. He reached down and gave her a kiss. “I love you, sweetheart.” He began to tremble with nerves. He was very worried about her and hoped the birth went smoothly for them both.

Branch came into the bathroom and quickly cleaned up the mess. He sat the dirty towels aside, and got ready with a fresh, clean towel, for when Fairy’s baby arrived. He was more than happy to help. “I’m ready when you are Fairy.”

Symphony slowly walked over to the tub and peeked in. She didn’t know a lot about birth yet, but she was very curious. She looked up at her father and signed to him that she wanted to help.

Fairy watched Branch clean up and glanced over at Mama Goldie. She had a worried expression on her face. She hoped her mother in law was OK. She let out a loud holler of pain during the next contraction. She bared down and began to push.

Mama Goldie flushed the toilet and came over just in time to see her grandchild begin its progress out of Fairy. She put her hand on Rusty’s shoulder and smiled at Fairy. “Push Fairy! You’re doing a great job!”

Rusty was very excited. He saw that there was room in the bathtub for him to join, so he did. He sat down carefully and reached down to support their baby as it began coming out. “That’s it, mama, you’re almost there.” He caught his son as he was born. He gently placed him on Fairy’s chest and smiled up at Branch when he began drying him. “We had a boy!” He was so proud of his wife. “Our baby boy!”

The tiny boy was blood red, with white hair. He began to cry on his mama’s chest. He was dwarf sized and loud for such a tiny bean.

“Thank you, Branch.” Fairy held her son closely and breathed hard. She smiled at Rusty and pulled him in for a kiss with her hair. She was glad they had a boy too but would have been alright with another girl. 

Symphony watched on with amazement. She knew right then that she wanted to be a doctor like Fairy and Mama Goldie. She waited patiently to get a better look at the baby. She had lots of questions but was willing to wait until they were done taking care of the new baby. She knew that babies needed a lot of care.

Branch changed out towels, and gently wrapped the newborn in a dry towel. He gave him to his mama, and then escorted Symphony out of the room, to give the new family time to bond with their baby. He began signing to her the moment she began asking questions. He had a feeling she had a lot of questions to ask. That was the first time she had witnessed a birth, and it wasn’t exactly intentional. He had been unable to convince her to go back to her room.

Mama Goldie watched on and smiled. For now, her own problems were forgotten. She had another beautiful grandson to love. She reached down and helped Fairy get her baby latched on for his first feeding. She was very proud of her son and daughter. “Do you know what you want to name him?”

“Rusty and I talked it over, and decided our first boy’s name would be Habanero, so that is his name.” Fairy watched her newborn nurse. She was tired, and a little surprised that he arrived so quickly. It was her second birth, and she heard sometimes the succeeding births after the first were sometimes fast.

Habanero cracked his eyes open and watched his mama as he nursed. He was content now that he was snuggled up in a warm towel and had a meal in his tiny tummy.

“Yes, after Chili, since he saved Pearl’s life.” Rusty had tears in his eyes. He kissed Fairy a few more times, and then settled into the water. He placed his hand on his belly. He would be doing this in about two and a half months. He was nervous, but excited.

“That’s honorable Rusty.” Mama Goldie beamed with pride. Her own son named his firstborn son after his wife’s late husband. She couldn’t be prouder at that moment. “You’re going to be a great father.” She had a feeling the future would continue to shine brighter. She had started that morning angry, that she was forced to be a mother again against her will, but now she was as happy as a dragon on a bright sunny day. She wouldn’t trade that moment for the rest of the world.


	18. A Time For Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ukulele discusses some rule changes that she thinks are fair.

A couple of weeks later, Queen Poppy had everyone gather, so that they could discuss new changes to the colony. This time, Ukulele wasn’t going to let the trolls vote. She was going to implement change, without giving the majority a choice. She was doing this for the safety of everyone. She never wanted to see the hurtful things that she had seen for the last year. A lot had happened, and she hoped that with the new rule changes, fewer trolls would get hurt.

Creek pushed his grandmother’s wheelchair over to the front of the colony. He parked her chair so that she was facing everyone. He then took a seat next to Guy Diamond. He was glad that Ukulele had made her decisions. He wanted the best for everyone. His brother, mate, brother in law, mother in law, and friends should have never been hurt.

Ukulele cleared her throat and looked among her colony members. She knew some of the colony members may be angry for what she was about to go over, but she knew Basil, Creek, Stream, and everyone else who agreed with her decisions, were going to protect her with their lives. “Good morning everyone. Thank you, for gathering here today to go over new changes to the colony. As many of you know, there were several incidences involving certain colony members the last year that ended in the death of two trolls, who took advantage of certain situations. Today, I will implement new changes to the laws that were set forth by our ancestors, in hopes of keeping the peace, and avoiding unnecessary heartbreak and deaths. These changes are set forth by the royal family and I, and are subject to change, if the new changes become a problem in the future.”

Poppy and Basil were right beside Ukulele. They both looked confident and were sure that the new changes would work. If not, Basil was more then happy to set anyone straight.

“The first rule I would like to implement is the problems regarding marriage. From this day forth, if a couple go through any sort of hardship, where one or both members of the marriage no longer feel comfortable with their partner, they will be allowed to divorce. This will only be allowed if one or both partners become abusive, hateful, or cheat on their partner. There must be a legit cause for the divorce.” Ukulele saw some of them squirm, but she held her head high and held her ground. She knew this would make them uncomfortable, but she wasn’t going to give them a choice. These changes had to happen. “Also, from this day forth, if a couple are unable to conceive children, or have a hard time making a family, they can marry a third, or join another couple, so that they can have children. Polygamy will still be illegal, unless conception is a problem. The elder of the colony must approve of all polygamy marriages. It will still be illegal to mate outside of marriage, but bedroom activities will no longer have devastating consequences. Also, if a pregnant troll does break the law, they will no longer be sent to prison. The maximum penalty allowed will be house arrest, until the unborn pod is born. This is due to the tragic death of three trollings several months ago.” She cleared her throat. “Now, to discuss another couple of problems I noticed recently. No medical trolls are to work alone from this day forth. Same with the prison guards. At least two trolls will work at both facilities from this day on.” She looked among them. “That is all for today. If you have any questions or concerns, you may ask now, or forever hold your peace.”

No one decided to argue. Ukulele had a determined look on her face, and those were a lot of changes. No one wanted to anger that mama bear. They agreed with her and stayed quiet. Sky did look a little disappointed. He had been hoping to try one more time to have kids, with Rhapsody, but he did appreciate that Rhapsody at least shared his quintuplets. He was forever in his brother in law’s debt.

With no arguments, everyone dispersed. Ukulele watched them go with a look of confidence on her face. She hoped with these changes, less trolls would get hurt, and there would be less heartbreak. She hoped with time, those who were hurt by Olive, Indigo, and Archer, would learn to cope and get along without any more heartache. Their wrongful actions changed the lives of over a dozen trolls. If she could avoid this from happening again, she would die a happy elder. She really wanted what was best for everyone.


	19. A New King And Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A marriage that has been long anticipated can finally happen, thanks to the new law changes.

The next month was busy for everyone, but not more so for anyone then for Basil and Poppy. Now that polygamy was allowed, under certain circumstances, they could marry Stream and Smidge. Smidge had been pregnant once since moving to their new home, and she once again lost her baby. The sad and frustrated mother wanted to give up. She had her mate, and four wonderful children, thanks to Basil’s kindness. She didn’t want her heart to ache anymore. Ukulele knew of her troubles and had allowed them to propose to a mate or couple of their choice. Stream and Smidge of course choose Basil and Poppy. They asked the royal couple not long after the law changes, and of course they had accepted. Everyone was now gathering to witness the first polygamy marriage that the colony had ever witnessed.

Ukulele was dressed nicely, in a light yellow, flowing dress, that was covered in lace and fabricated flowers. She had her gray, nearly white hair fixed up in a bun, with a large yellow flower tucked into it. She was going to marry the four of them, since Poppy or Basil couldn’t do it for themselves. She had her hand rested on Pumpkin’s back. Her great grandson had crawled into her lap and had fallen asleep. She was going to marry them with a little helper, but she didn’t mind one bit. She just wanted her grandsons happy, and she was happy to see Stream beaming with joy. She only wanted the best for everyone.

Stream was a nervous groom. He had his hair slicked back with gel. He had a black tuxedo, with a red bow around his neck. His sleeve was folded neatly where his arm stump was. He was pacing as he waited for Basil. They were going to approach Ukulele first and wait for their wives. He wanted this to go smoothly. He was glad he wasn’t pregnant. It had been five months since Indigo had raped him, and he had not fallen pregnant, which was a huge relief.

Basil wasn’t as neatly dressed as Stream. His shirt was only partially tucked in, and he didn’t put socks and shoes on, like he was supposed to. He had a matching suit on and had slicked his two-toned hair back. He came out of the bathroom and chuckled when he noticed how nervous Stream was. “Relax Stream. It’s going to be alright.”

“We’re making history Basil. I have a right to be nervous. I hope the colony doesn’t do anything stupid.” He tucked Basil’s shirt in and grabbed his socks. He began helping Basil into the socks, but Basil immediately started to act like a toddler. He struggled to get his mate to hold still. “You weren’t kidding when you said you hated socks.”

“Damn, don’t put those on my fucking feet!” Basil curled his toes and moved his feet away from Stream. A struggle ensued for a few minutes, until Basil pinned Stream to the wall and began kissing him. He hoped by distracting him, he wouldn’t have to wear those dreadful socks. He didn’t like how they felt on his sensitive feet, and they were a distraction he didn’t need with his blindness. His feet and hands were his eyes.

Stream returned the kiss and growled playfully. He let the lip lock go and huffed. “You’re the most stubborn troll I have ever met. I love you for it.”

“I love you too, Stream. Now can we skip to ‘I do’ and then have sex?” Basil grinned cheekily and then took Stream’s hand and led him towards the area outside that Ukulele was waiting at. He didn’t want Stream to try again. He wasn’t going to wear socks or shoes.

Stream walked with his mate and leaned into him gently. He murmured that he was so glad that they could now do this. Once they were in front of Ukulele, he stopped and mouthed ‘I love you’ to his grandmother. He was glad she let this change happen.

Poppy and Smidge was just about ready themselves. Satin and Chenille were putting final touches on their gowns. 

Poppy had a baby pink wedding dress on, that had a long cape, that would drag on the ground. She had lace on the end of her dress, and on the sleeves. She had flowers and lace tucked in her braided hair. She hummed a soft song as she waited for the fashion twins to finish their gowns. She was excited and couldn’t wait to see the expressions on Stream and Basil’s faces. Today was going to be a glorious day.

Smidge was quiet as her friends worked on her gown. She had a matching dress on, that was fitted for her tiny stature. She watched as her children waited impatiently nearby. Branch had promised to watch all of them, so that Basil, Poppy, Stream, and her could have a night to themselves. She wasn’t sure she wanted them out of her sight. She was very protective of them all, including Poppy and Basil’s children.

Once their task was completely, Satin and Chenille escorted the children outside and led them towards Branch. They were happy to help Poppy and Smidge. They wanted them to be happy. Especially knowing that Smidge had struggled so hard the last five years to have children. She would now have the large family that she had always dreamed of.

Poppy reached down and took Smidge’s hand. She smiled down at her. “I love you, Smidge. We’re going to be a family.” She began leading her mate towards their husbands. She was so excited that they would be a family. It was a long time coming, and she wasn’t going to have this any other way, now that they could actually do this.

Smidge smiled up at Poppy and walked with her. “I love you too, Poppy. I’m glad we get to be a family.” She let her worries slowly melt away, even if it was just for now. She was glad that she got to be with Poppy and Basil. She had loved them both for as long as she could remember with Poppy, and since she had met Basil. Once they met their husbands in front of Ukulele, she looked up at her grandmother in law, and smiled softly. She could see that her baby was in Ukulele’s lap. She pulled a camera out of her hair and took a picture. She thought he was being very adorable.

DJ Suki walked over to Ukulele and gently took Pumpkin into her arms. She smiled at her friends, and then carried the sleepy seven-year-old over to Branch, so he could be with his siblings and friends.

Pumpkin murmured sleepily and rested his head on DJ Suki’s shoulder. He rubbed his eyes and whined that he wanted to be with his great grandma. “I want to be with gramma Lele…”

Once everyone was gathered and settled, Ukulele looked between the two brides and two grooms. She smiled at them and cleared her throat. “Thank you, everyone, for gathering with us to bare witness, to history in the making. Today, I will be marrying two couples together, in holy matrimony. King Basil and Queen Poppy, do you take Smidge and Stream, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, until death departs you?”

“We do.” Basil and Poppy said at the same time. They smiled at each other, and then at their bride and groom.

“Very good. Smidge and Stream, do you take King Basil and Queen Poppy, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, until death departs you?” Ukulele had a proud look on her face.

“We do.” Smidge and Stream said together. They smiled at Basil and Poppy. They were both still nervous but were glad that they were given this opportunity.

“Then by the power invested by me, I now pronounce you husbands and wives.” Ukulele smiled at them. “You may kiss.” She looked at the colony. “I am proud to introduce to you, King Basil, King Stream, Queen Poppy, and Queen Smidge. Leaders of the Thorn Kingdom.” She was happy for them all.

Basil kissed Poppy first, and then reached in and gave Stream a kiss. He then knelt and kissed Smidge. This process continued, until all four of them had a chance to exchange kisses. They turned to the colony and beamed as everyone cheered with joy. They were happy that they were now a family.

Later that night, after the wedding party, Basil led his husband and wives home. He stepped into the flower pod and stumbled towards the bathroom. The drunken king started to strip in there. He was eager to get started with nighttime activities. Especially since all four of them were staggering drunk.

Stream wasn’t far behind Basil. He stripped out of his clothes and used the bathroom. He gave Basil a playful whack on the buttocks. He wanted to get busy.

Poppy led Smidge to the kitchen. She had some food related activities in mind. Basil loved when she pulled out the chocolate sauce. She handed Smidge some chocolate sauce, butterscotch fudge, and sprinkles. She grabbed a jar of blackberry jam, and then led Smidge towards the bedroom.

“Are we making a sundae?” Smidge looked amused as Poppy handed her the typical topping for ice cream. She giggled when Poppy led her towards the bedroom. “Oh, we are making those kinds of sundaes.” She set the goodies down when they got into the bedroom. She began stripping down. She was eager to get into bed.

Once Basil was ready, he turned to Stream and gently sank his teeth into his neck. He growled playfully and began kissing him down his neck and shoulder. “You’re all mine now.” He began dragging him towards the bedroom.

Stream laughed when Basil love bit him. He stumbled as Basil dragged him towards the bedroom. He was already swollen and eager.

Poppy finished stripping, and helped Smidge into bed, and began covering Smidge’s breast with chocolate sauce. She smiled at Smidge and got to work on cleaning her breasts of the sticky syrup with her tongue. She reached down and fingered Smidge’s vulva gently. 

Smidge arched her back and moaned loudly. She held onto Poppy’s hair and murmured that Poppy was making her feel good.

Basil heard Smidge’s moan. He groaned and crawled into bed with them. He began kissing Smidge and played with Poppy’s right breast.

Stream crawled into the bed too and positioned himself over Poppy. He held her closely and grinded her gently. He gently pushed his length into her and began thrusting his hips eagerly. He didn’t want to wait any longer.

Poppy moaned loudly and pushed her fingers into Smidge. She began to finger thrust her eagerly. She was very pleased.

Smidge let out loud whoops of pleasure. She kissed Basil hungrily and whispered that she was in heaven.

Basil kissed Smidge a few times, before pulling her from out of under Poppy. He pushed himself into her and began thrusting gently at first. He growled playfully when he felt her love bite him. He was loving this a lot.

The four of them mated for hours, before settling down on their sticky, messy bed for the night. They had had a lot of fun and were very pleased. They were glad that they were now a family, and there was no one stopping them from being one big and happy family.


	20. A Brush With Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A health scare shakes the colony to its core.

As morning rose, Ukulele got out of her bed on her own, and began propelling towards the bathroom, using her arm and hair to move the chair forward. She didn’t feel right. Her head and legs were pounding. She got into the bathroom and hollered in fear when she noticed that her vision was darkening in her right eye. She could feel that her right side was also becoming numb. She froze up and put her hand on her head. Something was very wrong, and it was scaring her.

Ukulele lived with Creek and Guy Diamond, and they had recently moved back into their home. Creek heard his grandmother’s fearful scream. He got up and hurried for the bathroom. He saw that she wasn’t right and could see that she was scared. “What’s wrong grandma?!”

“I can’t see out of my right eye.” Ukulele’s voice was slurred and hard to understand. She trembled with fear. “I’m dying…”

“No, you’re not.” Creek frowned and picked her up. He rushed out of the flower pod and ran straight for the medical pod. The fact that she thought she was dying terrified him.

Ukulele gasped when she was picked up. She was starting to feel dizzy and confused. She murmured that she was sorry and that she loved him and Stream very much, before losing consciousness.

Creek got into the medical pod and gently put Ukulele down on a bed. He explained to Mama Goldie what he saw, and then hurried out the door to get Stream. He didn’t want Ukulele to die without his brother having a chance to say goodbye. He got to the door and pounded on it. He was frantic.

Smidge groaned and lifted her head up. She had a pounding headache. She looked towards the door and fussed her brows. “We’re hung over! Go away!”

Basil groaned and sat up. He frowned and got up. “It’s Creek. He’s panicking.” He hurried towards the door and answered it. He was completely naked, but it sounded like it was an emergency. “What’s wrong Creek?!”

Creek covered his eyes when Basil opened the door. He flushed and hesitated. “It’s Ukulele. She’s very sick. She thinks this is the end. I need Stream.” He burst into tears and began to sob. He was very close to his grandma.

Basil cursed and let Creek in. He hurried for the bedroom. “Ukulele is in trouble. Get dressed Stream!” He threw a set of clothes on the bed for Stream, and then began to get dressed. He didn’t care that he was covered in chocolate sauce and blackberry jam. They needed to get to Ukulele immediately.

Stream gasped and stumbled out bed. He quickly slipped on a pair of boxers and led Creek out the door. He was messy as well, but he didn’t care. They needed to get back to Ukulele.

Poppy and Smidge quickly got dressed and followed them out the door. Basil wasn’t far behind them.

As Stream and Creek entered the door, Mama Goldie was in the middle of giving Ukulele medicine to thin her blood. She was still unconscious but was alive.

Mama Goldie looked up when Creek came in with Stream. She went back to giving Ukulele medicine. She could see that Ukulele’s legs were swollen. “I think she had a stroke. I gave her a blood thinner and something for pain. She might not make it boys. It’s time to say goodbye.”

Stream chocked out a sob and walked over to Ukulele. He took her hand and sniffled. He couldn’t believe she was this sick, so fast. She had just married him and his mates the day before. His heart was breaking. She was tough as stone and had a heart of gold. He wasn’t sure he was ready to let her go. “I love you grandma. You’ve been the best troll that we have ever had. You’re stubborn but you love everyone. I don’t want you to suffer. If it’s your time, it’s OK to go.”

Creek ran his hand through her hair and sniffled. “We love you grandma. It’s going to be OK.” His heart pounded hard in his chest. He wasn’t ready to let her go either, but if it was her time, it was the way it had to be.

Basil came into the medical pod. He stumbled over a box of medicine and fell to the floor. He stumbled to his feet and brushed his knee. He could feel that he had scrapped it. He whispered that he was fine when he got swarmed by worried nurses. He walked over to Stream’s side and held him closely. He rubbed his mate’s back as he cried into his shirt. He had a worried look on his face. Ukulele was very sick, and he could sense that. Tears threatened as he reached over and caressed Ukulele’s cheek. “You can’t die yet. You just became my grandma…” He chocked out a sob and began to cry with Stream. He was worried about her.

Poppy came in and gasped when she saw Ukulele. She teared up and hurried over to Creek. She hugged into him, since Basil was consoling Stream.

Smidge wasn’t far behind. She went straight over to Stream and snuggled into her mate. She silently prayed that Ukulele would make it. She looked so sick.

“Pumpkin…” Stream’s eyes went wide when he made a realization. Pumpkin seemed to know the day before that something wasn’t right. Pumpkin needed to be with his great grandma, and he seemed to know that. “I need to get my boy!” He started heading for the door when Basil stopped him. “Basil!”

“I’ll go get him. Stay here…” Basil led his mate towards Ukulele’s side. He then hurried out the door to get Pumpkin. He decided on the way that he would also get Rainbow, since she seemed to be the bridge between the living and the dead. If anyone was going to be able to change this, it was Rainbow and Pumpkin.

Several minutes later, Basil returned with Pumpkin and Rainbow. He sat them down beside Ukulele and told them that Ukulele was very sick. He had a worried look on his face.

Rainbow frowned and snuggled right into Ukulele. She put her hand on Ukulele’s wrinkled face and began to hum. She closed her eyes and concentrated, before slipping out of consciousness. She was going to beg for the spirits to let her great grandmother live. She was determined to try.

Pumpkin hugged into Ukulele and closed his eyes. He also fell unconscious, shortly after Rainbow had.

Basil checked Rainbow’s pulse. He had a feeling they would have to resuscitate her, again, which scared him. He sighed in relief, when he felt that her heart was beating strong. She appeared to have learned how to control her powers well enough, that she didn’t have to almost die, in order to enter the spirit realm.

Stream and Creek watched on with worried expressions on their faces. They held hands as they began to sing to Ukulele. If anyone was going to survive a stroke, it would be Ukulele.

A few hours later, Ukulele woke up. She cracked her eyes open and cringed when she realized that she was half blind. She couldn’t move her right leg and was suddenly grateful that she was already used to missing her right arm, because the entire right side of her body felt numb. She had a pounding headache and was confused. She also felt that she had lost control of her bladder and bowels. She had had a devastating stroke, but she had survived it. She had a long journey ahead of her, and was scared, but she could feel that she was snuggling with two very special great grandbabies. She murmured that she was going to stay for as long as the spirits would allow her to stay. She wanted to live for them. She wasn’t ready to go.

Ukulele’s family and friends were all beside her and were praying for her. She was a tough old girl, but this was going to take them all for her to get through this. They all felt she was worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the song that Creek and Stream sang. I do not own the song. All credit goes to the creators!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT_wKFBgYlo


	21. A Busy Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s a busy day at the medical pod.

For the next three weeks, Ukulele was given a variety of medications and put through physical therapy, in hopes that she would regain some function on her right side. So far, she had made tiny improvements. She still had a long way to go. She was warned she would likely never be able see out of her right eye again, which was a little scary but survivable. She was also going to be incontinent for the rest of her life. Everything else was just annoying to her. She was already used to getting help, since her broken hip. She spent most of her time in the medical pod, so she could get the care she needed.

Basil was at the medical pod, too, with his twins, Splash and Crash. Fairy and Mama Goldie had talked him into separating them, but he was still very nervous. There was a slight chance that they would be paralyzed from their waists down. He told them if they were going to have to do anything to their spines, they were to stop and stitch them closed. He didn’t want them to live with the same struggles Sapphire had been through. He had them held to his chest and was giving them one last cuddle before their surgery. 

Splash and Crash were snuggled up to their daddy. Both looked stressed out. They were spirit talented babies and could sense that their daddy was scared. Both of them began to cry and snuggled into their daddy. They didn’t understand what was going on. All they knew, was that their daddy was worried, and they were in the medical pod, which was a place they often went to when they were hurt or sick, or someone they knew was hurt or sick.

“It’s time…” Mama Goldie walked over and gently took the one-year old twins. She carried them towards the backroom, where they would perform the surgery. She was four months pregnant with triplets, and round in the belly, but she wanted to make sure she was in charge of this surgery. These boys needed their surgery, so they could learn to walk. They were a little behind with their physical milestones.

Fairy was in there to help. She handed Habanero to Basil so he could babysit him while she worked on his twins. She followed Mama Goldie to the back and gave the twins sedatives so she could monitor them as they began to fall asleep.

While Mama Goldie and Fairy worked on separating the twins, Rusty was in the bunker, helping Harper with the children. She was teaching them an art lesson. Fairy had led him there on the way to work. He was due in about a week to have his baby, and Fairy didn’t want him to be alone.

Biggie was over as well and was helping with making lunch. He had a set of twins tucked in his hair. He had given birth to a set of twin girls, a week earlier, and was already back to work on making baked goods for his friends and family. He was tired but was doing just fine. He had named his girls Hope and Joy, since they were absolutely adorable and sweet. They were a set of identical twins that had dark purple skin, and pastel purple and pink two-toned hair. They looked a lot like their father, Indigo, but that didn’t matter to Biggie.

Rusty took a break from the art lesson and walked to the living space. He leaned on the couch and groaned during a contraction. He had been having mild contractions all morning, which was partially why he wasn’t to be alone, but now it was clear that it wasn’t just false labor contractions. He startled when Symphony walked over and put her hand on his hip.

Symphony could see that Rusty was restless. She asked him in sign language, if he was alright. She remembered when Fairy had had her baby. She wanted Rusty to be OK.

Rusty smiled softly and signed to her that he was alright. He gently took her hand and put her hand on his belly. He waited until it tightened, and then signed to her that it was a contraction. He told her that it meant that the baby was going to come soon.

Symphony squealed with joy and signed that she would go get her daddy. She hurried off to go find Branch. She knew Branch would take good care of Rusty.

Rusty watched her go and rubbed his belly gently. “Decided to come while mama was at work, huh kiddo?” He cringed when fluids began running down his legs. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Branch came into the living space and smiled softly when he saw the small puddle. “It’s alright Rusty. Let’s get you to the medical pod. Maybe Fairy will be done by the time the baby arrives.” He began leading him towards the door.

Symphony tried to follow, but DJ Suki stopped her. She whined and stomped her feet. She liked helping when Habanero was born. She wanted to help this time too.

Rusty walked with Branch towards the medical pod. He stopped halfway there and closed his eyes during the next contraction. “It hurts so badly.” He was surprised that his wife had handled labor with Habanero so well.

“Deep breaths Rusty.” Branch rubbed Rusty’s back gently. He knew how painful those contractions were. “It’s going to be alright.”

“I know it’ll be alright. It just hurts.” Rusty continued walking to the medical pod. He walked in and stopped at the first bed. He leaned into it and whimpered. 

Ukulele was in that bed. She shifted and looked at Rusty with worried eyes. “It’s alright Rusty. Hold my hand.” She offered her hand and smiled at him when he squeezed her hand. “You’re so strong Rusty. Just like your mother. You know, I delivered you, and your brothers, when Goldie gave birth to the three of you.”

“That’s right, you were the doctor that trained her.” Branch recalled them talking about it some time ago. Ukulele had retired right before he moved there with his brothers and sisters.

“Yeah, mom said I was a pain in her butt.” Rusty smiled softly. He stayed right there and watched Ukulele. He was worried about her. They all were. It was good to see her, conscious and able to talk easier. Her voice was still a little slurred, but she had come a long way in just three weeks.

Ukulele nodded. “You came out breech. Scared us all, you did.” She nudged him towards a bed. “Go lay down daddy. Branch will take good care of you. He’s a great nurse.”

Branch smiled at Ukulele and led Rusty towards a bed. He had been helping in the medical pod. Especially after the new law changes. He had been taking care of Ukulele and everyone else who came in that needed help.

Rusty walked over to a bed and leaned into it. He spread his legs and bared down. “It’s coming out!” He hollered in pain. Tears ran down his cheeks. The pain reminded him of the injuries Indigo inflicted upon him. He was having a flashback.

Branch was right there. He had a blanket ready and got ready to catch the newborn. “That’s it Rusty. Good job daddy. I see the head. One more good push.”

Fairy came out, since she could hear her husband sobbing. She hurried over to him and got onto the bed, so she was at his level. She consoled him as he pushed. “It’s alright daddy. Breathe and push hard.”

Rusty pushed his baby the rest of the way out. He turned and watched as Branch handled her. He breathed hard and settled into the bed next to Fairy. “Sorry for not laying down.”

“It’s alright Rusty. She’s just fine.” Branch gently set the baby down on his chest and cleaned her up. “Looks just like her grandma.”

The newborn gold glitter trolling cried on her daddy’s chest. She was a healthy and chubby little girl, which was a surprise, considering they all expected her to be tiny from Rusty’s poor nutrition at first.

“She’s a chunky girl. You did so well.” Fairy kissed Rusty and rubbed their daughter’s back gently. “I can’t stay here. I need to go back to work daddy.” She gave him one more kiss, before leaving to go back to work.

Rusty kissed Fairy and watched her go back to work. He looked at his daughter and smiled softly. “Hello sweetheart. I’m your daddy.” He set her up to nurse and watched her suckle. “I’m going to name you after your grandma. Your name is Jewel.” He ran his finger along her damp hair as she nursed. He was already in love with her, even though he didn’t like how she came to be. He began to sing to her. He was a very proud daddy and couldn’t wait to watch her grow up.

Basil listened nearby and smiled. Jewel, Hope, and Joy were good spirited babies, and it appeared that they were going to be great additions to the colony. Listening to Rusty rejoice Jewel’s birth, gave him a much-needed distraction. He was so worried about his twins.

A few hours later, Fairy came out with Splash in her arms. She walked over to Basil and gently settled the one year old in the bed next to Basil. “Easy does it, Basil. Their hips are going to be very painful for a couple of months, but we got them separated successfully.”

Mama Goldie wasn’t far behind Fairy. She gently settled Crash next to his twin brother. She made sure they were settled on their bellies, so that their sore buttocks didn’t have pressure on them. “I’d like for them to stay here for at least a week. Thankfully they were mostly connected by muscle and fat. They shared a little bit of their hip bones, but it wasn’t as bad of a separation as we all feared it might be. They’re very lucky little boys.”

Basil stood up and gently felt his boys from head to toe, while they were asleep. He chocked up a sob. “They’re not together anymore. I bet they’ll still do everything together, anyways.” He gave them each a tiny kiss on their heads. He wanted them to be happy and healthy. He hoped he made the right choice.

“I’m sure they’ll still do everything together. They remind me of Satin and Chenille.” Fairy smiled at Basil. She had told the fashion twins that their separation would be very simple, but they had refused to break their hair tie. She respected their wishes. She left Basil’s side, to go bond with Jewel. She was very proud of Rusty.

Mama Goldie rested her hand on her swollen belly. Crash and Splash’s surgery was going to be her last task before going on maternity leave. It was hard to believe that she was going to be a forty-eight-year-old mother. Her birthday was coming up, and was very nervous about her upcoming birth, but she was now married to Peppy, and wasn’t going to go at this alone. She hoped that everything went smoothly. She was going to be the oldest mother in their history. A feat she didn’t want to do but was given no choice. She was a very nervous old mama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the song that Rusty sang to Jewel. I do not own the song. All credit goes to the creators!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGXHWqlH_dc


	22. The Tiny Surprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected birth brings a lot of tension to the medical pod.

Less then an hour after Crash and Splash were settled into a bed, next to each other, Guy Diamond came into the medical pod. He had his hand on his belly. “Something is very wrong! I’m in a lot of pain!” He stopped right by Rusty’s bed and let out a sob of pain. He was in the middle of making a stuffed bear when he suddenly felt intense pains in his belly. He was very worried about this pain. “I think I’m having a miscarriage…” He teared up and began to cry. He had been struggling for a year to conceive another baby, and he thought Creek was going to end up being the bare of the rest of their children. He didn’t want to lose another baby. River and Amethyst remained his only living children that were born out of his loins.

“I’ll go get Creek!” Basil got to his feet and hurried out of the door. He had yet to sense a life inside Guy Diamond, so he thought perhaps it was something far more devastating then a miscarried child. Creek needed to get in there quickly, just in case something bad happened to his mate.

Mama Goldie was still in there, bonding with her newest grandchild when Guy Diamond came in. She got up and gently gave Jewel to Rusty, before helping her eldest into a bed. She checked him gently and found that he was indeed in labor, and the baby felt breech. She manually began shifting the baby, so that it came out headfirst. “This baby might make it sweetheart. It feels premature, but viable.”

Rusty looked over at his older brother and frowned. He looked worried as he cradled Jewel closely. He hoped that the baby was alright. He couldn’t imagine the fear that his brother likely felt.

Guy Diamond hollered in pain as his mother shifted the baby to a correct position. He grasped the sides of the bed and breathed. “I sure hope so…” He was trembling in the bed. He was worried about his baby. If it was a premature baby, it was going to be dangerously early. He didn’t mate right away after being raped by Indigo. The baby had to be at around five months along.

Creek came in with Basil and hurried over to Guy Diamond. “I’m here…” He teared up, seeing that there was blood between his mate’s legs. He was very worried about his mate. He didn’t sense a spirit inside of him. He had a bad feeling that if this was a baby, the baby was gone.

“Push when you feel the urge to do so.” Mama Goldie got ready with a blanket. Splash and Crash were supposed to be her last task, but she wanted to deliver her grandchild. Especially with the high likelihood that he or she would come out premature.

Guy Diamond bared down during the next contraction and hollered in fear and pain. He looked down as his baby began making its way out. It was clear right away that Creek wasn’t this baby’s father. It was Indigo’s baby. Tears filled his eyes and ran down his cheeks. “That son of a bitch!” He bared down and pushed his baby the rest of the way out. He then shifted so he wasn’t looking at his newborn. He was very upset.

The tiny newborn was dwarf sized and covered head to toe in glitter. She was the same shade of purple as Indigo, with his purple and pink two-toned hair. She was healthy and began crying as her grandmother cleaned her up.

Creek watched the baby warily. It was clear right away that she was not his child, and she appeared to have some sort of spiritual talent, since he couldn’t see her spiritual presence. He turned to Guy Diamond and consoled his mate. He held him and glanced at the tiny girl. He wasn’t sure if she was going to be good or bad. That had him so worried.

Mama Goldie finished cleaning her granddaughter up and tried to offer her to her son. She flushed with frustration when he avoided his newborn daughter. “Guy Diamond, she’s you baby. Don’t be like this.” She didn’t want to see her granddaughter abandoned when she was just minutes old. “It’s not her fault. You know that.”

“I don’t want her!” Guy Diamond cried into Creek’s chest. He was very upset that Indigo’s genes had won over against Creek’s genes. It wasn’t fair.

Creek let out a sad sigh. “I think she’ll have bad tendencies. I can’t feel or see her spiritual presence.” He wasn’t going to argue with Guy Diamond. The baby definitely had potential to be a problem later.

“Shame on you both, for rejecting her!” Mama Goldie glared at them. Guy Diamond was showing a little bit of his father in him, at that moment, and that made her angry. She turned to Rusty and walked over to him. “Rusty sweetheart, can you please nurse your niece? Her father just rejected her.”

Rusty looked shocked. He loved Jewel already, so to see his brother reject her half-sister, and cousin was overwhelming and sad. He gently took the newborn dwarf and set her up to nurse. “I’ll raise her, if he doesn’t want her.”

“I have no problem with raising her either.” Fairy was beside Ukulele. She was in the middle of giving her physically therapy when Guy Diamond came in. She saw that Mama Goldie was taking care of it, so she stayed with her task.

Guy Diamond glanced over at his little brother and flushed with embarrassment and regret. He just realized he was acting like his abusive and rapist father. He didn’t mean to seem like that. He was just terrified. He sniffled and wiped his tears away. “I don’t know if I want her yet. I need a moment…” He snuggled into Creek and buried his face into his hands. He began sobbing inconsolably. He wasn’t sure what to do.

Creek ran his hand through Guy Diamond’s hair. He was going to support his mate, no matter what his decision was. “I’m here for you…”

“Don’t be too harsh Mama Goldie. He’s scared.” Basil was nearby, with his sons. He could sense the intense fear radiating off of Creek and Guy Diamond. He didn’t sense the baby either, which was scary. He hoped for all of them that she was a good child. Especially since Indigo and Bruno had been incredibly mean.

Mama Goldie sighed and sat by Rusty’s bedside. She dropped the problem for now, but hoped that Guy Diamond didn’t resent his daughter, just because of how she came to be. As far as she was concerned, the newborn was innocent.

Rusty finished nursing the newborn and set her up to burp. Once the air was out of her belly, he settled the tiny newborn next to Jewel. “Gem would be a pretty name, if I get to keep her. Jewel and Gem.” He already loved her, even though she looked like the same male that nearly killed him almost six months earlier. “You’re so pretty…”

Guy Diamond slowly calmed down and shifted so he was sitting upright. He looked over at his little brother and sighed. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “I trust you with her Rusty. I’m very sorry, Gem…” He got up and left without saying another word. His heart was crushed, and he wasn’t sure if he could raise her after what Indigo did.

Creek frowned and followed his mate out the door. He wanted to make sure he was alright. He had just had a baby and was upset. He didn’t want anything to happen to him.

Mama Goldie glared at the door when her eldest son left. She crossed her arms and fused her brows. She wasn’t happy with him at the slightest. She planned to have a firm talk with him later. Her birthday party was a week away, so she hoped a week would give him time to clear his brain.

Rusty watched his brother go, and then looked down at Jewel and Gem. He wasn’t going to treat Gem any differently. He already loved her and planned to raise Jewel and Gem as if they were twins. “It’s going to be alright girls. I love you very much.” He planned to protect them with his life. He didn’t want them going through what him and Dusty went through as kids. He planned on being the best father he could possibly be.


	23. Fatherly Woes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guy Diamond faces the wrath of his angry mother.

For the next week, Guy Diamond didn’t go out of his flower pod. He spent most of that week, resting and recovering from the birth of his youngest. He felt incredibly guilty for giving up his daughter to his little brother, but he had his reasons. So far, almost everyone left him alone, mostly because Creek had requested that they needed to give Guy Diamond time to cope with what just happened. It was the day of Mama Goldie’s forty eighth birthday when he finally came outside. He headed for Peppy’s flower pod with his family. He wasn’t as chipper as he normally was, but he hadn’t lost his colors. He went inside Peppy’s home and cringed when Mama Goldie walked straight towards him. He swallowed hard, and prepared for her to tell him off, for rejecting his baby. “Happy Birthday mom.”

Mama Goldie walked over to Guy Diamond and smiled softly when he told her happy birthday. She gave him a warm hug and led him towards the couch. She was angry, but she knew and understood he was hurting. It was all over his face. She had him sit down and had him look up. “I just want to know why you gave up on her, before giving her a chance.”

Creek led the children to the playroom. He knew Guy Diamond and Mama Goldie were due for a chat and didn’t want to be in the way.

River stayed close to her daddy, Guy Diamond. She could sense that he was very nervous and upset. She snuggled right into him when he sat down on the couch. She had rarely left his side all week.

Guy Diamond looked a little relieved when his mom hugged him. He let her lead him to the couch and sat down. He snuggled with River and looked down at her. “I don’t want to be like dad. I’m so scared that I’ll look at her the wrong way or hurt her. I don’t want to do that. I already feel like I have a hole in my heart for giving her up mom. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but I’m scared. I’m not sure if that even makes sense.” He sighed sadly. He was so afraid that he would end up treating Gem differently because of fear and anxiety. He didn’t want that for her. He did love her, but he definitely didn’t bond with her.

Mama Goldie nodded slowly. She could understand that precaution. She looked at her eldest son and frowned. “Are you still going to be a part of her life?”

“As much as possible. I just can’t raise her mom. I’m so sorry.” Guy Diamond sniffled and looked away. He was prepared to be yelled at for what he had done. He felt like a terrible father.

“It’s going to be alright son. I think I understand now.” Mama Goldie grabbed a tissue and dried his face and nose. “You know I’m protective of you and all the grandchildren. I just wanted to understand.” Mama Goldie rubbed River’s back soothingly. She was so glad they had come. She was worried that they might not show up.

Rusty and Fairy came in next. Fairy led Pearl to the playroom, while Rusty walked over to the couch and joined his mom and brother. He sat beside Guy Diamond and immediately took Gem and Jewel out of his hair. “They want to say hi.” He gently gave them to Guy Diamond and smiled when they opened their eyes. “Gem, this is you daddy. He won’t raise you, but he still loves you. Jewel, this is your uncle. He’ll make lots of toys for you both.”

Guy Diamond gasped and looked at his brother when he suddenly put the two one-week old newborns into his arms. He looked down at them and smiled softly. “They’ve grown a little bit…” He slowly calmed down and watched them. He was slowly relaxing.

Mama Goldie watched on and cracked a smile. Guy Diamond actually took Gem. It was a good sign. “Hello Gem and Jewel. Are you being good for daddy, sweetcakes?” She fussed over them and cooed. She was a proud grandma.

“They’re keeping us up at night, but they’re worth it.” Rusty smiled proudly. “I love them so much.”

“Thank you, little brother. You’re taking great care of her.” Guy Diamond shifted and showed them to River. “They’re pretty, aren’t they?”

River looked at her sister and cousin. She looked confused. “Why can’t I see her spirit?”

“We’re not sure why her spirit is gone. We’re not going to treat her differently though, are we?” Mama Goldie looked at her sons. She wanted them to be a good influence for the children.

“Not going to treat her differently at all.” Rusty smiled at River. “I have a good feeling about her. She’ll be a great trolling.”

Guy Diamond let out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, she’ll do great things.”

“Can I hold her?” River settled on the couch, between Rusty and Guy Diamond, and offered her arms.

Guy Diamond nodded and gently gave Gem to River. He watched his eldest hold his youngest and couldn’t help but cry. He still felt awful for giving her up.

Dusty came in and walked right over to his family. He sat down by Rusty and smiled. “They’re getting big already.” He reached over and caressed Gem’s cheek. He shot a glare at Guy Diamond. He had already told him off earlier that week, for abandoning Gem.

“They’re growing and strong.” Mama Goldie smiled at her boys. The party was going well so far. She was so glad. “How are things over at Rhapsody and Sapphire’s?” She knew he had been over there a lot to help out with the kids. He was starting to bond with the couple, and there was talk about a possible wedding in a few months.

Dusty blushed and shifted a little bit. “Rhapsody and Sapphire proposed yesterday. Surprise!” He chuckled nervously. He was surprised that they accepted him. He had no experience with children, and they are six little ones at home. “Rhapsody didn’t know until a few days ago that my real name is Gold Dust. I guess I got so used to being called Dusty that I never bothered telling anyone my real name.”

Mama Goldie looked happy, until his real name was mentioned. Rusty and Dusty had gone by their given nicknames for so long, that it was odd hearing his real named mentioned. “You and Rusty don’t have to be called that anymore. Archer should have never suggested those nicknames.”

Rusty smiled softly. “I like being called Rusty. It’s OK mom. Iron is a good name. I’m glad you gave it to me, but I look like rust that collects on iron. Rusty is a suitable nickname.”

“And it rhymes with Dusty, so it makes sense for me to keep that nickname too. It’s OK mom.” Dusty smiled at her. He knew she was still picking up the pieces after about twenty years of abuse from the male they once called father.

“I like calling them Rusty and Dusty too.” Guy Diamond smiled softly. He was a lot more relaxed now that his little brothers were there, and the subject over Gem was dropped.

“Then I’ll keep calling you by your nicknames.” Mama Goldie smiled at her boys and relaxed. She was still a little annoyed that Guy Diamond wasn’t going to raise his daughter, but the day was going a lot smoother than she thought it might. She was glad, for all their sakes.


	24. An Old Mama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mama Goldie goes through pain of childbirth, one more time.

Just over a month after her birthday, Mama Goldie was settling down for lunch. She had been having false labor contractions all week and knew her triplets were going to arrive at any time, even though she wasn’t due for another couple of weeks. She ate some of her lunch, and then looked at her hug time bracelet. She was having a contraction. She wrote down the time on a piece of paper and continued to eat. She was relaxed and knew what to do. Once she was done eating, she got up and set the dishes in the sink. Her contractions were three minutes apart. She knew it was time to go. She walked over the door and headed out. She walked towards the medical pod with her hand on her belly. She smiled softly when Peppy came running over. “It’s time…”

“I was afraid it might happen today.” Peppy looked nervous. He wanted everything to go smoothly for her. She was not a young troll, and so many things could go wrong for her. He walked with her and rubbed her back gently when she stopped during a contraction.

Mama Goldie stopped and turned to snuggle into Peppy. She knew this pain was coming, but she didn’t remember how bad it was. “I think I remember part of the reason why I only had three boys.” She shuddered in pain. She hated this pain so much, and she was always so busy. She had been happy with her boys.

“I’m so sorry my queen. It’ll be over soon, and the pain will fade.” Peppy soothed her. “Do I need to carry you?”

“No, I don’t need to be carried.” Mama Goldie smiled softly. She continued her way towards the medical pod. She went inside and smiled softly when she saw that it was Branch and Parsnip in that day. She knew her triplets would be in good hands. She settled on a bed and cringed when Branch checked her. “I’m not ready to push yet.”

“It won’t be much longer though.” Branch got ready to deliver Mama Goldie’s triplets. They were a couple of weeks early, but he had a feeling they would be just fine. He set up and got ready to deliver three babies. He was more worried about Mama Goldie, then her three little ones. She was no spring chicken.

Parsnip helped Branch get set up, and then went about his normal routine. He knew Branch could handle delivering the triplets, but was on standby, just in case things took a grim turn.

Peppy settled down beside Mama Goldie and held her hand. “Squeeze my hand when it hurts.”

Mama Goldie held hands with Peppy and squeezed his hand during each contraction. She was so glad he was supportive. She needed him right now. About half an hour after arriving, she bared down and began to push. She let out a loud cry as the first of the triplets began coming out. She looked down and watched as Branch began to clean her up. “Oh my god, I finally got a girl.” She teared up and sniffled. “I always wanted a girl…”

Branch cleaned up the green glitter trolling. He noticed she looked just like Archer, but he knew that wouldn’t matter to Mama Goldie. He gently gave her to Peppy and got ready to catch the second baby.

“She’s beautiful mama. Deep breaths and push.” Peppy cradled the first of the triplets. He smiled down at her. “I’m your daddy.”

Mama Goldie breathed hard and pushed for the second of the triplets. She noticed she was coming out breech. She groaned, remembering how scary it was when Rusty came out like that. She resisted the urge to push for a moment, while Branch helped ease her arms and shoulders out. As soon as only the head remained, she bared down and pushed again as hard as she could.

“Good job Mama Goldie!” Branch caught the baby girl was she was born. He cleaned her up and gave her a light flick on her foot to get her to cry. He smiled when she began crying loudly. “Identical twins.” He gently gave the second baby to Peppy. He got ready to deliver the last of the triplets. “One more to go.”

Peppy chuckled and cradled the girls. “If we’re lucky, we might get a boy to help protect these two girls.”

Mama Goldie took a small breather and groaned. She was tired. “I just want them to be healthy. They have three big brothers that will be happy to protect them.” She bared down and pushed for the last baby. She watched as Branch caught one last girl. This one looked like Peppy, but with glitter. She was a little smaller than the identical twins. She smirked and looked at Peppy. “Told you that you might get one!” She was so relieved that Peppy got to be a biological daddy to one of the babies. She laid her head back and let out a tired groan. She was exhausted.

Branch couldn’t help but laugh. He had a feeling Mama Goldie mated with Peppy some time after the rape. The last baby looked a little premature. It took her a little while longer to cry, but she was viable and appeared to be alright. He handed her to Mama Goldie and smiled. “They’re very pretty.”

“I know you did.” Peppy chuckled and gave Mama Goldie a kiss. He remembered her begging about a week after the rape to mate, in hopes they might have a baby together. It appeared one of her seeds bloomed from him. “She’s beautiful.”

Mama Goldie set up the youngest to nurse. She wanted her to eat right away, since she was a little more premature then her sisters. “Their names are Jade, Crystal, and Amber.” She teared up and sniffled. “I love you, my sweet little girls. I’m sorry I was mad when I found out you existed.” She was glad she was given this final chance to be a mom again. She was an older mom, and did worry about their futures, but her boys assured her that they would help her and even take the triplets if she needed them to. She hoped to see them become old enough to have children of their own. It meant she needed to stick around until she was at least sixty-six years old. “Mama loves all three of you unconditionally. I’m so glad I get to be your mama.” She smiled at Peppy as he helped her switch so she could feed the first two babies. She snuggled with them and sighed tiredly. It was hard work already, but she had a feeling they would be worth it.


	25. Little Peas In A Pod

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An infant bonding surprise everyone.

For the next month and a half, Mama Goldie endured a big struggle. She was exhausted after birthing three little ones and struggled to do everyday functions for days after they were born. She also found out that her milk supply didn’t come in, so she had to find a surrogate to help nurse her triplets. Thankfully Guy Diamond still had a milk supply, because he had been saving his milk in the freezer, for emergencies. She was glad he had, because Jade, Crystal, and Amber needed milk to survive. Her relationship with her son took a turn for the better because of it. She spent all of her time at his home, because she didn’t want to be away from her daughters. Everything was starting to look up for their family.

It was time for Dusty’s wedding, so everyone gathered to bare witness to the union of Dusty, Rhapsody, and Sapphire. As their families and friends gathered, Basil stood at the front, to wed the trio. He had insisted that he marry his little sister. He was glad she was able to find love in another and get a chance at a bigger family. He knew she wanted to have lots of children.

Once everyone was gathered, Basil read the vows. He had a huge smirk on his face, as he pretended to read the vows out of a book. All his life, he had never seen color, shapes, or even light, but it gave him a sense of pride if he acted like he could see. He knew Biggie would be taking pictures, and they would likely talk about it all day.

“You’ve got the book upside down!” Branch finally said, once Basil was done marrying the trio.

“And it’s the wrong book!” Sky laughed hard. He knew Basil was likely trying to make Sapphire laugh, but it was going to be silly, seeing all those pictures with Basil, holding a book about child rearing at a wedding. “Goofball!”

Sapphire giggled and gave her husbands each a kiss. She stuck out her tongue at her oldest brothers, and then propelled over to Basil. She pulled him down to her level and placed a warm kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, big brother. You have no idea how much this day means to me.” She gave him a hug and smiled.

Basil smirked and launched the book towards Sky. He then gasped when Sapphire kissed his cheek. “Rose would be so proud of you.” He held Sapphire and smiled. He was more then happy to help her. Especially after everything she had been through. He wanted her to be happy.

Sky yelped when the book hit him across the head. He glared up at Basil and rubbed his head. “That hurt!”

A scramble ensued to check on the babies that were next to Sky. Some of the smallest babies had been placed in a playpen. Sky had been over there watching the babies.

The book would have hit Gem, but Tsunami had put a dome of hair around her. He glared in Basil’s direction, before residing his hair and snuggling up to her. He was barely scooting around but had managed to scoot over to her and covered her minutes before Basil even threw the book.

Rusty looked alarmed and confused. “He covered her up before the book even got thrown.” He tried to pick Gem up, but Tsunami wasn’t letting her go. “I want to make sure she’s alright Tsunami.” The whole event had scared him. He was fiercely protective of all of his children.

Gem cooed and stretched her hair, so that it wrapped around Tsunami’s hair. She looked at Tsunami and smiled. She babbled and let out a giggle. She liked him already.

“I think she’s alright Rusty. She wouldn’t be giggling if she got hurt” Branch gasped when he saw that their hair was starting to get entangled together. “They just bonded with each other. They’re awfully young to do that.” A soft smile spread over his face. He had a feeling this was a very good sign. Tsunami was a spiritually gifted trolling and didn’t bond to everyone.

“I read that happens sometimes. The bond forms in infancy, and they end up getting married much later in life.” Sky watched his son and smiled. It appeared that Tsunami had already found his soul mate.

“What?! They’re babies!” Rusty protested with a frown. “They can’t bond yet…” The overprotective father and uncle didn’t want decisions to be made while the babies were so young. “We’ll just have to wait and see if this is an actual bond.”

“Don’t forget that trolls can’t help who they bond with Rusty. This is fate.” Branch chuckled and reached down to tickle Tsunami’s foot. “You’re a protective little guy, aren’t you? Good job for saving her from getting hurt!”

Tsunami giggled and wriggled as his uncle tickled his toes. He kept his hold of Gem. He had no plans of letting her go yet. She had almost been hit, and the protective infant didn’t want her hurt. He was very smart and coordinated for his age. He had been hitting and exceeding all of his milestones and even hinted towards being a reincarnation.

“That’s my boy.” Sky couldn’t help but tear up. He was proud of his son already. He reached down and caressed Tsunami’s cheek. He had a wedding coming up himself. He had talked to Harmony and they had decided to marry Peridot, since she couldn’t bare any children. Things were finally starting to look up for him. Tears ran down his gray cheeks. He was so close to restoring true happiness. He hoped completing his family would be what him and his family needed. It had been a long and hard year for them all.


	26. Sweet Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sky’s heart gets some much-needed love.

A month after his sister’s marriage, Sky was preparing for his own wedding. He was nervous, as he helped his sons and daughters get ready. He was still gray and still looked sad, but he wasn’t going to let his depressive state ruin a big day. Peridot and Harmony had been working hard on restoring and fixing his broken heart. He still missed his triplets but was reassured by Rainbow and Pumpkin that they were in good hands. He wanted the best for his little angels.

As the time came for everyone to gather, Sky began making his way towards Basil. His little brother was going to wed him, just like he had wed Sapphire. He eyed his brother. The last wedding he set up, he launched a book and nearly injured a baby. He whispered that he wasn’t allowed to throw books today. He didn’t want anyone to get hurt. He glanced down by Basil’s feet. Two of his nephews appeared to have followed their daddy. “They’re standing. That’s a good sign.”

Splash and Crash were next to their daddy. They had refused to leave his side. They were finally walking but were a little wobbly on their feet. They had scars where they were once connected but didn’t appear to have any residual side effects of being conjoined twins. Both of them stared at Sky, curiously. They were still trying to figure out auras, and Sky always had confusing emotions.

Peridot joined his future husband by Basil. He took Sky’s hand and planted a warm kiss on his cheek. He reached up and whispered into his ear that he loved him very much and was going to help him through the trials he was still facing.

Shortly after Peridot approached Sky, Harmony made her appearance. She was being led by Rhapsody. She had a determined look on her face. They had been through a lot the last two years. Especially after Sky had lost his triplets. She smiled at her mates as she walked towards them. She began to sing to them. She wanted them to know, that she would be there for them through all trials in life.

The rest of the colony joined her in singing. They all wanted Sky to know he was worth loving, and that they were all there for him, through thick and thin.

Sky chocked out a sob as he looked around. He sniffled and embraced his beautiful wife. He gave her a kiss and held her closely as his colors began to restore. He couldn’t help but feel true happiness at that moment. He had never felt so much love in his life. He was so glad he had his wife, and soon to be husband.

Everyone cheered with joy. To see Sky restore his colors meant that the time of tension and uncertainty was coming to an end. The diplomacy that nearly broke the colony apart had come to an end, and those who needed the changes, could now live normal lives. They couldn’t be happier for all those families that were affected by the chain of events that happened due to the fear that change could cause. They could all now live and let live, without questioning if their lives would be affected forever. They were all going to be OK now, and that was all they wanted and needed. A sense of peace filled the area as Basil wed the happy trio. They were all one big happy family, and he was determined to keep it that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the song Harmony sang. I do not own the song. All credit goes to the creators!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PugD11k3JU
> 
> This is the end of part 3 of “Best Friends Forever.” I have a part four planned. I hope you enjoyed!


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